TAMPA - We all know Bay area home prices have tumbled, but this hurts: The Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area lost $35.6 billion in home value in 2008, according to a report released Tuesday morning by Seattle-based Zillow.com.

The area, with a skyrocketing foreclosure rate, fared worse than the nation. Nearly every area in the country, however, was hit hard by falling prices in 2008, says Zillow, which lists values and sales information on millions of U.S. homes on its Web site.

"A witch's brew of economic insecurity, foreclosures and tightened lending standards are helping to keep hard-hit markets down and to widen the scope of markets showing declines in home values," said Stan Humphries, Zillow vice president of data and analytics.

GOOD NEWS

Home sales nationally and in the Tampa Bay area are picking up. The national and local associations of Realtors reported an uptick of home sales last month. Zillow's report suggests buyers are snatching up distressed properties.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.