Dive summary:

• S&P's Case-Shiller index of home prices for November found that they were up in 19 of 20 of its selected metro areas from the year-ago period, data that many observers took as a good, if not outstanding, sign of the housing recovery.
• The report's 20-city index showed a 5.5% appreciation and the 10-city index was up 4.5%, with New York the only metro area not have positive change over the 12 months.
• Areas with the biggest declines during the crisis can have the most dramatic recoveries, and Phoenix had a 22.8% gain year over year.

From the article:

"It shows the larger cities – with a better economic basis, demand generators and foreign investment – appreciating at a rate far more rapidly than the wider U.S. ..."