A picture of the post- tax credit housing market is emerging, and it isn't pretty. The number of people who signed purchase agreements in the Twin Cities metro area during July was down almost 38 percent, according to data released this afternoon from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

Sale prices have been mixed. Traditional sellers (nonforeclosure and non-short sale) posted a 5.0 percent price increase in the median price to $222,500, while the median price of foreclosures was flat at $119,000. Short sales prices rose 3.5 percent to $147,000. See the complete report at www.mplsrealtor.com/inside_newsroom_news.aspx.

If you're a discount shopper, Minneapolis just might be the place to be. Home sellers here offered price reductions more often than any other city in the nation, according to a report released this morning by Trulia.com. As of last week a full 42 percent of all listings had at least one price reduction with an average mark down of 9 percent. That's not the highest mark-down on the survey, Detroit gets that distinction - sellers there offered an average price cut of 26 percent.

So buyer: Has Trulia done its homework, are sellers really offering big discounts?