Home prices in the metro Miami area rose 9.5 percent in October from a year earlier, the biggest gain among 20 big cities tracked by the S&P Case-Shiller index.

That far outpaced the S&P Case-Shiller national average, which gained 4.6 percent in October from a year earlier.

With the last quarter gains, Miami-area home prices are at their highest levels since May 2008. Still, according to the index, the prices are 32 percent below the December 2006 peak.

Nationwide, home prices continued to slow, although eight metro areas showed prices rising faster, the data show.

Miami’s role as “the capital of Latin America” has helped fuel its recovery.

Prices for the metro Miami area, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent from September to October and were up 0.4 percent month to month on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Case-Shiller reported.

While Miami-area prices are rising faster than those in other cities, the pace has slowed from last year’s double-digit gains.

The Case-Shiller indices track prices of single-family homes that have sold at least twice.