Home prices in 20 U.S. cities climbed in the 12 month-period ending in July at the fastest clip recorded in more than seven years. Bloomberg has more from the latest S&P/Case-Shiller index:

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 12.4 percent from July 2012, matching the median projection of 31 economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the biggest year-to-year advance since February 2006, a report from the group showed today in New York.

“Prices may come under a little downward pressure as demand slows,” Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc. in Chicago, said before the report. “There was a rush of activity as homebuyers anticipated mortgage costs may rise further,” she said, and the recent jump in borrowing costs means “housing activity will slow from here.”