A few days back the Wall Street Journal published a sortable table of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for the top 20 U.S. metro markets. The most recent numbers (through February) show the Minneapolis metro area to be among the weaker markets in the survey: the sixth-worst performance against the January 2000 prices that form the baseline of the index; the ninth-worst year-over-year price decline (20.3 percent); and the seventh-worst month-to-month decline (3.1 percent).

Here’s the table sorted by performance against the January 2000 benchmark of 100. Even considering factors such as exurban sprawl and the weak regional economy, I’m at a loss to see why the local metro fares quite this poorly in a big picture sense relative to other U.S. population centers. Any of the real estate watchers in the house care to expound?