U.S. home prices rise less than expected in February

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Annualized U.S. single-family home prices rose less than expected in February, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 5.4 percent in February on a year-over-year basis, less than the 5.7 percent increase the month before and just below the 5.5 percent estimate from a Reuters poll of economists.

"Home prices continue to rise twice as fast as inflation, but the pace is easing off in the most recent numbers," said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Prices rose 0.7 percent in February from January on a seasonally adjusted basis, the survey showed, just short of expectations for a rise of 0.8 percent.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased 0.2 percent from January.

Home prices in three U.S. cities, Denver, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, reported the highest year-over-year gains, the survey showed.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

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