Home prices still have a ways to go

Home prices rose in many Gulf Coast markets last year, but they still have a ways to go before they reach the levels of the go-go years.

For example, look at the Cape Coral-Fort Myers market, which saw home prices rise 6.73% last year, according to an index of purchases and refinancings calculated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Although the area had the fifth-highest rate of appreciation in the country last year, prices are still down 38% over the last five years.

In the Naples-Marco Island area, which saw huge appreciation during the real estate boom, home prices have fallen 41% over the last five years.

In North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, prices are down 38% in the last five years and in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area they're down 36%.