Happy New Year everyone! Here's the latest on the local housing market from business reporter, Jackie Crosby:

Home prices continue to fall across the nation, with Minneapolis among the cities posting the biggest declines. Prices dropped 2.8 percent in Minneapolis between September and October, after showing some of the strongest gains during the spring and summer buying season, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, which was released Tuesday.

For the year, Minneapolis home prices are down 8.4 percent. Part of the trend can be attributed to a typical fall slowdown in home sales, and Minneapolis isn't alone in its declines. All but one of the 20 cities tracked by the S&P's index saw home prices drop in October. It was the second straight month of declines for a majority of the cities. Minneapolis prices were down 1 percent between August and September.

Previously, home prices had risen for five consecutive months in at least half of the cities tracked. David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee, said steep price drops in cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Atlanta were particularly worrisome. "Atlanta and the Midwest are regions that really stand out in terms of recent relative weakness," Blitzer said in a statement. "These markets were some of the strongest during the spring/summer buying season."

Americans are still reluctant to purchase a home although the recession officially ended more than two years ago. High unemployment and weak job growth have deterred many would-be buyers. Even the lowest mortgage rates in history haven't been enough to lift sales. Some people can't qualify for loans or meet higher down payment requirements. Many with good credit and stable jobs are holding off because they fear that prices will keep falling

Sales of previously occupied homes are barely ahead of 2008's dismal figures — the worst in 13 years. And sales of new homes this year will likely be the worst since the government began keeping records a half century ago. Prices are also certain to fall further once banks resume millions of foreclosures. They have been delayed because of a year-long government investigation into mortgage lending practices. Home prices had stabilized in coastal cities over the past six months, helped by a rush of spring buyers and investors. But this year, prices in many cities, including Cleveland, Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tampa, have reached their lowest points since the housing bust more than four years ago. Foreclosures and short sales — when a lender accepts less for a home than what is owed on a mortgage — are selling at an average discount of 20 percent The Associated Press contributed to this report.