NEW YORK CITY—Home-price gains slowed down in February, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Tuesday in releasing its latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. The 10-City and 20-City Composites posted annual increases of13.1% and 12.9%, respectively, Meanwhile, the US Census Bureau said home ownership across the US has reached its lowest level in nearly 20 years.

"Despite continued price gains, most other housing statistics are weak,” says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Sales of both new and existing homes are flat to down. The recovery in housing starts, now less than one million units at annual rates, is faltering.”

Moreover, Blitzer adds, “Home prices nationally have not made it back to 2005.” As of February, they're back to mid-2004 levels, according to S&P Dow Jones.

“Five years into the recovery from the recession, the economy will need to look to gains in consumer spending and business investment more than housing,” Blitzer says. “Long overdue activity in residential construction would be welcome, but is certainly not assured.”

Some of the markets tracked by the Case-Shiller indices did well in February. Las Vegas posted 23.1% year-over-year price gains versus 24.9% in January. San Diego was the only city in the Sun Belt that saw improvement in its Y-O-Y return, with an increase of 19.9%. And Washington, DC recorded its eight consecutive improvement with an annual rate of 9.1%, its highest since May 2006.

A report from the Census Bureau said the share of Americans who own their homes was 64.8% in the first quarter, down 0.2 percentage points from the Q1 2013 rate of 65%. The rate is the lowest since Q2 1995, when it was 64.7%.

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Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.