Twin Cities home prices continue to rise

Twin Cities home prices continued to rise in September, according to the latest numbers from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller Home Price Index.

The index shows Twin Cities home prices were up nearly 9 percent from September of last year. Among the 20 major metropolitan areas the index tracks, only Phoenix saw a bigger increase.

David Blitzer with Standard & Poor's said the Twin Cities housing market has climbed a long way from its low point in April of last year.

"It's 19.1 percent off its bottom, which is generally good," Blitzer said.

Blitzer said nationally, housing has turned a corner. He notes that home sales and prices, as well as housing starts and builder confidence have shown consistent improvements over the past several months.