Home prices on Suncoast continue fall

Suncoast house prices improved in January but still saw some of the steepest declines in the nation, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Metro Area Home Price Index.

Home prices in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, which included Pasco County, fell 7.4 percent, compared with the same month last year. The only other area to fare worse was Las Vegas, where prices fell 17.4 percent. The area's decline tied with Detroit.

Even so, the Suncoast saw improvement. Prices fell 0.5 percent from December to January - slightly better than the 0.6 percent drop from November to December. The monthly declines have shown signs of stabilization since last summer and have even slightly increased several months.

The year-to-year declines are better too. December's year-to-year drop was 11 percent, compared with January's 7.4 percent.

The national report is mixed.

January home prices showed the smallest annual decline in almost three years. The 20 cities tracked saw an average yearly decline of 0.7 percent and a monthly decline of 0.4 percent. Fewer cities showed month-to-month gains in January than in December, though.

"While we continue to see improvements in the year-over-year data for all 20 cities, the rebound in housing prices seen last fall is fading," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee.

The 20-city index is up nearly 4 percent from its bottom in May, but still almost 30 percent below its May 2006 peak.

Still, there are signs that last year's housing rebound won't last. Home sales sank during the winter, and government incentives that have propped up the market are ending this spring.

Many analysts expect that the Case-Shiller number will eventually turn downward.

"It is only a matter of time before the index records a double-dip in prices," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.