Home prices in Charlotte and around the country climbed in June from the month before, a report released Tuesday shows.

But prices remained below their June 2010 levels, suggesting that difficulties remain in the market, despite the seasonal strength.

Prices in the Charlotte metropolitan area increased 2 percent from May and fell 4.1 percent from June 2010, according to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

Housing prices rose month over month across the U.S., too, with 19 of the 20 markets the index tracks showing gains and one, Portland, Ore., holding flat. All of those markets saw prices fall from June 2010, though none of the cities posted a new low.

"This month's report showed mixed signals for recovery in home prices," Standard & Poor's index committee chairman David Blitzer said.

Some markets have seen prices climb since their 2009 lows, while others saw prices fall to new lows this year and remain weak, he said.

"These shifts suggest that we are back to regional housing markets, rather than a national housing market where everything rose and fell together," Blitzer said.

Home prices rebounded in 2009 and 2010, largely because of the government's first-time homebuyer tax credits, but they fell again after that program expired. Real estate experts say prices could remain weak for years because of excessive inventories of foreclosed homes, lagging consumer confidence and buyers' continued difficulty securing loans.

The latest data from the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association show local home sales climbed nearly 10 percent in July from July 2010, though they were down from the month before. Meanwhile, the average selling price in the Charlotte region was $213,354, down about 2 percent from the previous year.

The Case-Shiller data, which track repeat sales, show that prices in Chicago and Minneapolis experienced the biggest jumps in June over May, though those markets posted some of the steepest year-over-year drops. Home prices in Minneapolis, for instance, fell nearly 11 percent from June 2010.

The Charlotte market performed slightly better than Case-Shiller's 20-market composite, which climbed 1.1 percent month over month but slid 4.5 percent from June 2010, the report found.