Home prices in July climbed for the fourth month in a row, but are still down from a year ago.

According to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 120 major cities, prices rose 0.9 percent in July compared with June, but they’re still 4.1 percent lower than 12 months ago.

“We are far from a sustained recovery” said S&P spokesman David Blitzer. “Continued increases in home prices through the end of the year . . . must materialize before we can confirm a housing market recovery.”

Indeed, adjusted for seasonal differences, the 20-city index was flat month-over-month.

Some cities have shown surprising strength recently. In Detroit, prices jumped 3.8 percent month-over-month, after spiking 5.8 percent in June. Minneapolis prices increased 2.6 percent and Washington recorded a 2.4 percent rise.

Weakness continued in Las Vegas, which was down 0.2 percent month-over-month and in Phoenix, which edged 0.1 percent lower.

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