Home price index shows 14 percent drop for Twin Cities area

Home prices in Minneapolis and nationwide dropped sharply in March, continuing a glum first quarter for the the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed.

The index for the 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul region fell over 14 percent between March 2007 and March 2008, the organization reported. Minneapolis also shows a 0.2 percent decline between February 2008 and March 2008.

The complete 20-city index, published Tuesday, was down 14.4 percent year-over-year. Las Vegas was in the worst shape, with a 25.9 percent decline, followed by Miami at 24.6 percent and Phoenix at 23 percent.

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Charlotte, N.C., was the only market to show an appreciation in home prices, at 0.8 percent.

"Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path, with 19 of the 20 metro areas reporting annual declines, and six of those now at negative rates exceeding 20 percent," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.

The index for Minneapolis-St. Paul was at 142.24 as of March. The indices have a base value of 100 in January 2000, so Minneapolis's current index translates to a 42.24percent appreciation for a typical home since then.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index tracks the value of single-family housing in 20 major metropolitan areas, and is released monthly. The index doesn't report actual selling prices.

The indices are produced by Fiserv Inc.