NEW YORK CITY—This month's S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices showed slightly faster annual growth in October compared to the month prior, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Tuesday. Month-over-month gains of 10 to 30 basis points were evident across all three of the Case-Shiller indices, although the 20-City Composite Index came in below the median projection of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg Business.

Case-Shiller's US National Home Price Index, covering all nine census divisions, rose 5.2% year-over-year in October compared 4.9% in September. The 10-City Composite rose 5.1% in the year ended Oct. 31 compared to 4.9% the month before. The 20-City Composite's Y-O-Y gain was 5.5% versus 5.4% reported in September; Bloomberg's consensus had called for a 5.6% increase in the index released Tuesday.

"Generally good economic conditions continue to support gains in home prices," says David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of S&P Dow Jones Indices' index committee. Blitzer cites consumer expectations of low inflation and further economic growth among the positive factors, an assessment that dovetails with the Conference Board's Sentiment Index for December, also released Tuesday.

The index climbed to 96.5 from an upwardly revised November reading of 92.6. This month's Sentiment Index reading came in well above a Bloomberg consensus of 93.5.

Blitzer adds that an uptick in residential construction, including single-family, is another positive sign. Sales of new housing have lagged those of existing homes, with a lack of product partly to blame.

Western cities continue to lead the nation in home price appreciation, with San Francisco, Denver and Portland posting the highest Y-O-Y gains among the 20 cities. All three markets posted price increases of 10.9% from the year-ago period. At the opposite end of the spectrum were Chicago and Washington, DC, with Y-O-Y gains of 1.3% and 1.7%, respectively.

Twelve cities reported greater price increases in the year ending this past Oct. 31 versus the year ending Sept. 30. Phoenix has had the longest streak of Y-O-Y increases, reporting a gain of 5.7% in October 2015 for its eleventh consecutive increase in annual price gains.

At IHS Global Insight, US economist Kristin Reynolds notes that the latest FHFA House Price Index, issued this past Tuesday, points to a national price growth picture 0.9% higher than Case-Shiller's, "but both measures indicate prices rising faster than inflation. Improving demographics and incomes, in combination with moderate price appreciation, is consistent with our expectation for continued balanced improvement in the housing market."