The U.S. housing sector received some good news Tuesday — home prices in 20 major cities rose a better-than-expected 4.2% in June  on a year-on-year basis, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price survey. Prices also rose a non-seasonally adjusted 1% in June, from May.

But June’s bright spark may represent brief relief for the troubled residential real estate sector — the data probably reflects some effects of the home buyer tax credit, an expired program that benefited residential buyers who signed contracts before the end of April. Meanwhile, reports show July existing-home sales plunged 27.2% and July new-home sales plummeted 12.4%, the latter hitting a 47-year low.

Full story is available on Daily Finance