Home prices rose for a fourth straight month in most major U.S. cities in July, amid the peak buying season. But the housing market remains depressed, and prices are expected to decline in the coming months.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index shows prices increased in July from June in 17 of the 20 cities tracked. Seattle was among them — but just barely, with a monthly increase of 0.1 percent.

The composite increase for the 20 cities was a more robust 0.9 percent.

But prices were down compared with July 2010 — 4.1 percent nationally and 6.4 percent in the Seattle area, which includes King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, according to Case-Shiller. Among the 20 cities, only four — Chicago, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Portland — saw steeper year-over-year declines than Seattle.

Over the past 12 months, prices fell in all but two cities: Detroit and Washington.

Housing is a key reason the economy has struggled more than two years after the recession officially ended. Home sales are on pace this year to be the worst since 1997.

Stan Humphries, chief economist at Seattle-based online real-estate marketplace Zillow, said he doesn't expect Case-Shiller's month-over-month increases to last much longer.

"I still believe that the continued fears about a Greek default, weak employment growth and low consumer confidence will ultimately translate into weaker housing performance in the back half of this year, he said.

Information from Seattle Times reporter Eric Pryne and The Associated Press is included in this report.