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Home prices recently posted their highest yearly gains since the housing bubble burst, according to a leading market indicator.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices reported Tuesday that in January the year-over-year average home price increases for its two leading composites were the highest since summer 2006; all 20 cities it tracks showed gains. The 10-city composite increased 7.3 percent, while the 20-city composite increased 8.1 percent.

Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Francisco all experienced double-digit annual gains. New York, Chicago and Boston grew slowest.

In Portland, home prices dropped 0.4 percent in January from December – but were 8.3 percent higher than 12 months before.

Nationally, sales of new single-family homes decreased 4.6 percent from January to February, but were still up 12.3 percent from a year before. The seasonally adjusted annual rate was 411,000, according to new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data.

The national supply of new houses for sale is 152,000 units, or a supply of just 4.4 months. Anything less than six months typically reflects a seller’s market. – Lee Fehrenbacher