The grass is always browner on the other side of the fence. I think it's time to invert that old maxim after studying the latest S&P Case Shiller home price index.

The index shows Tampa area home prices declining 18.5 percent year over year in September. But we're feeling no where near the misery of housing markets out West, or in Miami for that matter.

Take a look at this list of home price losers, culled from Case-Shiller's 20-city index:

1. Phoenix: -31.9 percent
2. Las Vegas: -31.3 percent
3. San Franciso: -29.5 percent
4. Miami: -28.4 percent
5. Los Angeles: -27.6 percent
6. San Diego: -26.3 percent
7. Detroit: -18.6 percent
8. Tampa: -18.5 percent

Nationally, Case-Shiller says prices declined 16.6 percent. So we're not that far from the average. Tampa area housing prices have retreated to what they were in October-November 2004 and are 28 percent below the July 2006 peak, according to the index.