According to Zillow’s Real Estate Market Report, home prices rose 1.1 percent in October, the twelfth consecutive month of increases and the largest gain since August 2005. Year-over-year, home values were up 4.7 percent, which is the biggest annual improvement since 2006. Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, said the bottom line is homes are more affordable now than at any time in recent memory and buyers are seizing the opportunity regardless of the factors cited by those that are still skeptical about the durability of the housing recovery. Only one of the 30 largest metro areas covered by the report saw declining values in October and 26 metropolitan areas saw increases over last year. The cities that saw the biggest annual improvement included Phoenix, San Jose, Denver, San Francisco, and Miami. More here.