(CBS/AP) A widely watched index of U.S. home prices fell 11.4 percent in January, its steepest drop since data for the indicator was first collected in 1987.

The decline reported Tuesday in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index means prices have been growing more slowly or dropping for 19 consecutive months.

The index tracks the prices of single-family homes in 10 major metropolitan areas in the U.S.

The broader 20-city composite index also fell, dropping 10.7 percent in January from a year ago. That makes it the first time both indexes dropped by double-digit percentages.

"Home prices continue to fall, decelerate and reach record lows across the nation," said David Blitzer, index committee chairman at S&P. "No markets seem to be completely immune from the housing crisis."

Blitzer said all 20 cities S&P tracks have seen dropping prices for five consecutive months. What's more, the declines are growing in severity, with 13 of the 20 cities reporting their biggest single monthly decline in January.

A weak housing market is the root of much of the troubles Wall Street is now grappling with. So any sign the housing market is on the mend - or has at least seen the worst of its decline - would have been welcome news.

The worst performing markets are Las Vegas and Miami, which tied for worst off as they both reported 19.3 percent drops.

Charlotte, North Carolina, squeaked by as the only gainer, with a 1.8 percent rise in January.

Also Tuesday, the Federal Reserve auctioned another $50 billion in short-term loans to cash-strapped banks to help them overcome credit problems.

It's part of an ongoing effort by the central bank to provide relief to a spreading credit crunch that has unnerved financial markets. The situation threatens to push the country into a deep recession. Counting the auction results announced Tuesday, the Fed has provided a total of $260 billion in short-term loans to banks since December.

In the most recent auction - which marked the eighth - commercial banks' paid an interest rate of 2.615 percent, the lowest rate for any of the auctions of this kind conducted so far.

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