Home price bounce will help boost economy, but it will take time

[Playinghardball]

By John W. Schoen, NBC News
http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/25/14094795-home-price-bounce-will-help-boost-economy-but-it-will-take-time?lite

The ongoing rise in home prices, up for the sixth month in a row in July according to a widely followed index, is bringing some badly-needed support for an ailing U.S. economy.

The road back to economic health, though, is going to be a long one.

U.S. single-family home prices rose in July, though the improvement was not as strong as expected, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.4 percent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, shy of economists' forecasts for 0.9 percent, according to a Reuters poll.

On a non-adjusted basis, prices fared better, rising 1.6 percent.