US house prices have seen their first monthly increase in nearly three years, according to a leading property index.
Prices rose 0.5% in May from April, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price index said. Analysts had forecast a 0.5% monthly drop.
The index committee's chairman said it could be a sign that declines in house prices are stabilising.
But consumer confidence fell more than expected in July as the job market remain tough, a survey indicated.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes slid to 46.6 in July from 49.3 in June.
Economists had expected a reading of 49.0, based on the median of 64 forecasts in a Reuters poll.
'Broad increase'
House prices were down 17.1% on a year ago, but the annual rate of decline has now slowed for four months in a row.
In April, prices were down 18.1% from the same point in 2008.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index records prices in 20 of the largest cities in the US. In May, 17 of the 20 cities showed improved annual price changes.
"To put it into perspective, this is the first time we have seen broad increases in home prices in 34 months," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P.
Sector improvement?
However, some analysts were still downbeat in their outlook for the housing market.
"We believe that there will be a continued decline in US real estate over the next year or two," said Chad Morganlander from Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.
"We do not expect an improvement in prices any time soon."
On Monday, government figures showed the annual rate of new home sales in the US jumped 11% in June - the biggest increase since November 2008.
However, the median sale price was $206,200 (£125,000), down 5.8% from May and 12% lower than a year ago.
Last week, the National Association of Realtors said that sales of previously-owned US homes had risen for the third month in a row in June, and at a faster rate than expected.
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