Home-Price Rise Sends Housing Sector Up

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Home prices grew for the sixth month in a row in July.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index jumped 1.2%. The index, which measures home prices in 20 major cities, is still down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis, but even this was a slower decline than previous months.

The news sent shares of homebuilders rallying in morning trading. Lennar(LEN Quote) climbed 3% to $15.11, DH Horton(DHI Quote) grew 3% to $12.10, Pulte Homes(PHM Quote) increased 2% to $11.47, Toll Brothers(TOL Quote) rose 1.5% to $20.30 and KB Home(KBH Quote) shot up 3% to $17.36.

They Just Don't Get Housing!

Only two cities showed price declines month to month, and 19 of 20 cities have homes prices above their lows.

Minneapolis recorded the biggest gain during the month, with prices up 4.6%. Las Vegas and Seattle, however, fell 1.1% and 0.1%, respectively.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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