Metro Atlanta housing prices rise steeply

Metro Atlanta home prices recovered three years of value in 12 months, rising steeply in a closely watched metric.

The increase is a further sign that the housing market is improving in the region. But the area’s prices remain below 2000 levels.

Local home prices were up 16.5 percent year-over-year in February, according to data from the S&P/Case-Shiller home sale price report. The increase means that metro area houses are now worth what they were in the summer of 1999. At their worst, in February 2012, area home prices fell to mid-1996 levels.