Like most major metropolitan areas, Chicago-area home prices rose marginally from April to May, but a “sustained recovery” remains out of sight, according to new data released Tuesday.

The widely-watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed that in the Chicago area, home prices rose 1.2 percent in May, compared with April, but remain 1.5  percent below their levels in May 2009.On a monthly basis, the index of local home prices was at its  highest level of the past year in September.

Nationally, home prices rose in 19 of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed in May, with the biggest percentage gains of 2 percent and 2.8 percent in Atlanta and Minneapolis, respectively.

However, the report also cautions the housing industry to not read too much into one month of numbers, which likely were somewhat fueled by an anticipated seasonal uptick in prices and lingering effects of now-expired federal home buyer tax credits.

“While May’s report on its own looks somewhat positive, a broader look at home price levels over the past year still do not indicate that the housing market is any form of sustained recovery,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P’s index committee. “Since reaching its recent trough in April 2009, the housing market has really only stabilized at this lower level.”

Also Tuesday, the Conference Board reported its latest gauge of consumer sentiment, which showed a second straight monthly decline.