Home prices drop 0.5 percent from Feb. to March

NEW YORK (AP) — Home prices fell in March from the previous month, a sign of a weakening housing market despite historically low mortgage rates and now-expired tax credits.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released today posted a 0.5 percent drop from February.

Prices in 13 of the 20 cities tracked by the index fell month over month. Only six metro areas recorded price gains. One, Boston, came in flat.

On Monday the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously occupied homes rose 7.6 percent in April, boosted by the low mortgage rates and government incentives. But the improvements aren't likely to last as the tax credit expired on April 30.

In a healthier economy, extraordinarily low mortgage rates would pump up demand for homes. But economists say the job market is too weak and credit is too tight.

In today's report, Detroit and Chicago saw the largest monthly declines at 4.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. Cleveland enjoyed the biggest gain at 1.8 percent.