Case-Shiller: price gains in 9 of 20 cities

Of 20 U.S. cities tracked in a monthly home-price index, only Los Angeles and San Diego posted month-to-month gains in January on a non-seasonally adjusted basis: 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.The latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller National Home Price Indices report, released today, also found that Portland, Ore., posted the biggest month-to-month loss, at -1.8 percent. Nine out of 20 cities posted year-over-year gains. San Francisco and San Diego saw the biggest increases: 9 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. And Las Vegas saw the biggest year-over-year decline by far: -17.4 percent. Detroit and Tampa saw the second-biggest declines, both at -7.4 percent.The indices, which are based on repeat sales of single-family homes over time, have a base value of 100, with levels above 100 representing the percentage of home-value appreciation since January 2000. The 20-city composite fell 0.4 percent, to an index level of 145.32, from December to January. And year-ove...