Washington housing prices up 4.4%

One of the last housing reports of 2012 shows price gains continue to gather strength, with annual gains in the Washington area slightly ahead of the national average.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index shows prices in October in the 20 biggest cities were up an average of 4.3 percent from October 2011. The year-over-year gain in Washington was 4.4 percent.

Chicago and New York were the only cities with lower prices in October compared to a year earlier.

Prices in Phoenix posted an annual gain…