U.S. home price growth ticked up again in July, though trends differed across regions while inflation cooled.

The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices across the country, rose 1.9% in the 12 months through July, compared with a 1.6% increase in June.

For the 14th consecutive month, U.S. home values fell in real terms, as July's 3.4% inflation ran roughly one and a half percentage points above the 1.9% home price gain, the survey said.

"Slightly lower inflation and stronger nominal home price appreciation helped narrow the gap," said Rebecca Kaufman, associate director of commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

For the fifth month in a row, Chicago reported the highest annual gain among the 20 cities, with a 6.9% increase in July. New York and Cleveland followed with annual increases of 5.8% and 4.2%, respectively. Seattle posted the largest annual decline, falling 1.6%.

Cotality continues to have transaction delays from the recording office in Wayne County, the most populous county in the Detroit metro area.