US Aug home prices fell, down 11.6 pct in yr-index

NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. house prices dropped in August after rising the prior two months, pressured by declines in all regions except the Northeast, a residential property valuation firm said on Tuesday.

Prices dipped 0.2 percent in the month, following a 0.9 percent rise in July, the IAS360 House Price Index showed. The index fell 11.6 percent in August from a year earlier.

Home prices in the western states remain the weakest of the four U.S. Census regions, dropping 0.6 percent in August and 18 percent year-over-year, the index showed.

Prices dropped annually in all four regions, with the Midwest showing the smallest drop of 2.3 percent.

Northeastern region home prices rose 1.3 percent in August, but were down 3.9 percent in the year.

The index is compiled by Denver-based Integrated Asset Services, which specializes in property valuation for the sales of bank-owned real estate. It tracks the monthly change in the median sales price of single-family homes. (Reporting by Lynn Adler, Editing by Walker Simon)