This is the most closely watched index of home prices and it has no good news in the numbers. LA Times: A key measure of home prices in the nation's biggest cities fell in February, indicating that the housing market remained weak at the start of the year. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 American cities dropped 0.8% from January to February, and 3.5% from February 2011. Sixteen cities tracked by the index posted declines. Nine cities saw average home prices hit new lows. "Broadly-speaking, home prices continued to decline in the early months of the year," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices. Los Angeles fell 0.8% from the prior month, while San Francisco was down 0.7%. San Diego was slightly positive, up 0.2% from January. We are caught in something of a vicious circle; home prices won't recover until employment comes back. But employment won't come back as long as the housing market remains weak. The market is still...(Read Full Post)