Chicago home prices rose in September for the fifth consecutive month, but prices are still down 10.6 percent from a year prior, according to a leading real estate index.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices also reported that seasonally adjusted Chicago home prices rose 1.2 percent in the third quarter compared with the second quarter, while home prices in the 20 metropolitan areas covered by the report were down by 9.4 percent from the year-earlier period.

Tim Freeman, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC’s Gold Coast office, said the price increase is consistent with a rise in sales he’s been seeing.

“From a consumer perspective, there’s a ready and able buyer beca use pricing is back to a number that people feel comfortable with,” Freeman said. “Generally, December is when we see an uptick in sales and I have noticed a few deals coming together.”

Freeman, who also owns property in Andersonville, mentioned that quite few of his tenants are now shopping around to purchase homes.

David Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor’s index committee, said Chicago looks stronger than some other cities.

“Chicago isn’t a place where people dream of retiring. Unlike Vegas, the city doesn’t have as many square miles of empty land, so there wasn’t as much overbuilding,” Blitzer said.

Las Vegas remains the most depressed market, where prices have declined for 37 consecutive months. Home prices there declined 28.6 percent in the third quarter as compared with a year-earlier period.

“While Chicago’s peak wasn’t quite as high [as other ci ties],” Blitzer said, “the plunge wasn’t quite as low.”

Kara Keller of MSK Realty LLC agreed that the Chicago market is looking “healthy.”

Increased consumer confidence, also reported Tuesday, paired with the rush to obtain the federal tax credit for first-time buyers, appear to support the continuing rise in home prices

“There’s usually a natural slowdown at this point in the season, but we’re seeing a momentum we don’t usually see,” Keller said. “People who were sitting on the sidelines are realizing that things are going to be OK.”