Home prices in Charlotte and other major cities fell again in November, reflecting how prices are still under pressure despite signs the overall housing market may be stabilizing, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures home prices in 20 cities, fell 1.3 percent in November from October and 3.7 percent from a year ago.

Prices in the Charlotte metropolitan area fell 0.5 percent from October and were down 1.9 percent from November 2010, according to the index, which tracks repeat sales.

Nineteen of 20 cities saw prices decline on a monthly basis, with Phoenix being the only city to post an increase. Atlanta continues to suffer among the most, posting a nearly 12 percent decline from November 2010.

Economists and local real estate experts say they think area home prices will continue to fall this year and beyond.

That's because the market must cope with a large supply of available houses, including distressed ones.

Foreclosed homes accounted for 20 percent of U.S. home sales between July and September, according to mortgage research firm RealtyTrac. In a healthy market, foreclosures account for 5 percent of sales or fewer.

Additional pressure also comes from a looming shadow inventory that could hit the market. Shadow inventory includes homes that are in the foreclosure process, likely to enter the foreclosure process or owned by banks but not on the market. These homes are not included in official inventory statistics.

Nationally, analysts estimate shadow inventory to be between 1.5 million to more than 6 million homes. An Observer analysis found Mecklenburg County had more than 16,000 homes in shadow inventory in October, compared to roughly 7,800 homes on the market.

"Despite continued low interest rates and better real GDP growth in the fourth quarter, home prices continue to fall," David Blitzer of S&P Indices said in a statement.

Overall, the index is down around 33 percent from its 2006 peak, and prices are close to those seen in mid-2003.