National home prices rose in June for a third straight month as it gained 3.6 percent from last year’s level according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released on Tuesday. Home prices also increased 4.4 percent in the second quarter after a 2.8 percent drop in the first quarter.

"While the numbers are upbeat, other more recent data on home sales and mortgages point to fewer gains ahead," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's. "Even with concerns about near term developments, we recognize that the housing market is in better shape than this time last year."

Of the 20 metro areas tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes only one experienced a decline. The index is up 4.2 percent year-over-year.

Seventeen cities posted price gains on a monthly basis. The biggest monthly price increases were in Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis. Prices climbed 2.5 percent in each of those cities compared to a month earlier.

Prices in Seattle and Phoenix were flat on a monthly basis. Home prices in Las Vegas fell 0.6 percent compared with a month earlier.