For the first time in 8 month, home prices in major cities across the US have shown an incline during the spring months, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index.

April's report showed a rise in 13 of the 20 cities that were tracked with Washington D.C in the lead, followed by San Francisco, Atlanta and Seattle.  According to David M. Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor's index committee, “It is much too early to tell if this is a turning point or simply due to some warmer weather.”

Despite the rise in 13 of the cities, there are six metro areas that are at the lowest levels seen in almost 4 years.  Those markets are Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami and Tampa.  

Many analysts believe that the index does not mark an end to falling home prices as the rise in foreclosures continues to overwhelm the market.  According to Johnathan Basile, the director of economics at Credit Suisse Securities, “It’s hard to sell when buyers have the leverage and foreclosures continue to create a gap between distressed sale prices and non-distressed sale prices."