National home prices continue to increase — although a bit slower than before — and bank-owned properties are making up a smaller percentage of total sales, lending hope for a fuller recovery soon, according to a market data provider’s new report. The monthly study by the Truckee, California-based real estate data firm, Clear Capital, showed that national quarterly price gains “softened” to 6.3 percent through Sept. 25.

“As anticipated, the strong gains we’ve been experiencing this summer are showing signs of softening,” Kevin Marshall, Clear Capital’s president, said in a press release. “But growth remains sufficiently strong-providing hope as we head into a winter that will test the strength of the recovery.” At the same time, the firm’s national real estate-owned saturation rate — a ratio of REO sales to all properties sold in the last rolling quarter — dropped to 28.6 percent. Marshall stressed his belief that a bottom was being reached in values for homes that were not bank-owned, meaning fair-market buyers were likely soon to come back to the market in greater numbers. “Prices remain low, driving investor activity into the non-REO marketplace across the nation. This is a good sign that the recovery is reaching beyond the distressed segment,” he said.