U.S. home values jumped 1.3 percent in the third quarter, the biggest gain since 2006, in an uneven recovery across the country, Zillow Inc. said.

The median value rose to $153,800 from $151,800 in the previous three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Seattle-based property-data company said in a report today. It was the biggest increase in Zillow's Home Value Index since the first quarter of 2006, when values rose 1.5 percent.

Home prices are rising nationally as the U.S. unemployment rate declines and buyers compete for a tightening supply of homes listed for sale. Still, values fell from the second quarter in 52 percent of markets covered by the index as the traditional homebuying season ended, according to Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries.