US home prices soared 12.1 percent in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since February 2006, as more buyers competed for fewer homes.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic yesterday said prices rose in April from the previous April in 48 states. Prices also rose 3.2 percent in April from March, much better than the previous month-to-month gain of 1.9 percent.

Prices in Nevada jumped 24.6 percent from a year earlier, the most among the states. California's gain was next at 19.4 percent, followed by Arizona's 17.3 percent, Hawaii's 17 percent and Oregon's 15.5 percent.

More people are looking to purchase homes. But the number of homes for sale is 14 percent lower than it was a year earlier. The supply shortage has contributed to the price increases.

Rising home prices can help sustain the housing recovery. They encourage more homeowners to sell.

And they spur would-be homeowners to purchase before prices increase further.

Home sales and prices began to recover last year, six years after the housing bust. They have been buoyed by steady job increases and low mortgage rates.

Sales of previously occupied homes ticked up to a three-and-a-half-year high in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. And they are likely to keep growing because a measure of signed contracts to buy homes rose to its highest level in three years in April.