Underscoring the widespread weakness in the U.S. housing market, home prices in 20 major cities dropped 2.5% in December from the prior month and were down a record 18.5% from the final month of 2007, according to the Case-Shiller home price index published Tuesday by Standard & Poor's. Years of appreciation have been wiped out, with average home prices standing at levels similar to those seen late in 2003. "There are very few, if any, pockets of turnaround that one can see in the data," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's. "Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path, with all of the 20 metro areas reporting annual declines, and eight of those now with negative rates exceeding 20%," he said in a statement. Prices have fallen in all 20 cities compared with last month and a year ago. The largest declines in December and for the year were in Phoenix, with price drops of 5.1% and 34%, respectively. For the original 10-city index compiled by Case-Shiller, prices fell by a record 19.2% for the year, and by 2.3% in December.

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