Home prices falling in Twin Cities, most major metro areas

The Twin Cities saw the biggest decline in home prices among 20 major cities across the country in February.

New data released Tuesday from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index show home prices in the Twin Cities dropped 3.1 percent in February compared to January. The seasonally-adjusted numbers for February show a smaller dropoff of 1.3 percent.

David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indexes, says he doesn't make too much of the Twin Cities' exceptionally poor performance in February.

"There have been times when it's been in the exact other direction-- Minneapolis has a bigger gain than other cities," said Blitzer.

Blitzer says, on the whole, the Twin Cities market is suffering from the same conditions as other cities. He says tight credit and foreclosures continue to hurt the housing market nationwide.

"Recent data on existing home sales, housing starts, foreclosure activity and employment confirm that we are still in a slow recovery," said Blitzer.

Foreclosures are still pushing down home prices in most markets. Prices are expected to drop yet lower.

Detroit was the only city in the Case-Shiller 20-city index that posted a gain in February. At least 10 major markets are at their lowest point since the housing bubble burst.

Prices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa are all at their lowest point since 2006 or 2007.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)