On a month-to-month basis, prices in 20 selected cities rose 0.5% in May, with increases in

13 cities, compared with a decline of 0.6% in April.

"This could be an indication that home price declines are finally stabilizing," said David

Blitzer, chairman of the index committee for Standard & Poor's, which compiles the Case-

Shiller index.

On an annual basis, U.S. home prices fell in May, but overall annual declines are slowing.

U.S. home prices were down 17.1% in the year ended May. This is slower than the 18.1%

drop in April.

Seventeen of the 20 metro areas saw improvements in their annual returns compared to

April. On Monday, the government reported sales of new single family homes spiked 11%

higher in June.

Analysts were cautious about the data. Despite the deceleration in home price depreciation

in recent months, prices are still 32.3% below their peak in mid-2006, analysts noted.