SAO PAULO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian home prices rose for the eighth straight month in October, giving builders and banks some hope the worst of a multi-year housing market downturn is finally easing.

The FipeZap indicator, which is released monthly and covers 20 major Brazilian cities, rose 0.11 percent last month from September, university research center Fipe and online classified ad platform Zap said on Friday.

Despite the streak of consecutive gains in prices, only once in this period did the rise in home prices outpace inflation, the statement said. Such situation suggests gains for sellers in cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro may be a long way off.

While in São Paulo home prices rose 0.12 percent in October, the projected inflation for the period is more than double that. In Rio de Janeiro, home prices edged higher by 0.04 percent in October.

According to FipeZap, home prices in Brazil may have slumped by as much as 7 percent in inflation adjusted terms in the 12 months through October.

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Chris Reese)