TAMPA - Home prices in Tampa fell again in January, joining most major U.S. cities that saw their lowest levels since the housing market crashed.

Home prices in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area fell 1 percent from the previous month and 7 percent from the same period a year ago, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index, released Tuesday.

The yearly drop followed a 6.2 percent yearly decrease in December.

The same 11 cities that had posted recent index level lows in December, posted new lows in January. The ten other cities are: Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Detroit; Las Vegas; Miami; New York; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle.

San Diego and Washington, D.C., were the only two markets where home prices increased year-over-year, up 0.1 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Miami, the only other Florida city tracked, posted declines of 1.3 percent from December and 4.7 from a year ago.

The local price drops appear to be getting worse.

In November, for example, prices fell 0.8 percent from the previous month and 4 percent from the same period a year ago. In October, prices fell 0.9 percent from the previous month and 3.6 percent from a year earlier.

"Keeping with the trends set in late 2010, January brings us weakening home prices with no real hope in sight for the near future" says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's.

The index measures home price changes relative to prices in January 2000 and gives an updated three-month average.

The index does not include actual home prices, but the recent figures from Florida Realtors back up the index. The group's data is a month ahead of the index.

$111,100 in February, down 13 percent from a year ago. The median was $65,000 for condos, down 27 percent from the last year.