Home prices in Boston continued to rise in January with a 0.8% increase from December 2020 and a 12.7% increase from a year earlier, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.

The year-over-year increase was the fourth-greatest in the 20-city composite index, following Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego, which posted gains of 15.8%, 14.3% and 14.2%, respectively.

Nationwide, the housing index rose 0.8% month over month in January and 11.2% year over year. The 10-city composite index rose 0.8% on a monthly basis and 10.9% on a yearly basis, while the 20-city composite rose 0.9% monthly and 11.1% annually.

January’s results indicate that solid home-price gains that began in the second half of 2020 remained on track at the beginning of this year, said Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P DJI.

Lazzara added that the strength is “broadly-based,” as seen in the fact that all 20 cities saw prices rise, and all 20 cities gained more in the year ended in January than the year ended in December 2020, according to a release.

“January’s data remain consistent with the view that COVID has encouraged potential buyers to move from urban apartments to suburban homes,” Lazzara said. “This demand may represent buyers who accelerated purchases that would have happened anyway over the next several years. Alternatively, there may have been a secular change in preferences, leading to a shift in the demand curve for housing.”