Local prices for single-family homes sold in December were 3.97 percent below those sold a year earlier. But that was less than the 4.64-percent decline reported in November. Price declines hit a low of 10.3-percent in March and have been trending better since.

Home sales and prices vary with the season, so analysts often compare new monthly figures with the same month a year earlier.

The CoreLogic figures follow data from other sources that show a rise in the number of existing home sales in the region. Sale prices have been rising in parts of Metro East, breaking the pattern for the rest of the region.

The overall decline of local home prices in December was exacerbated by distressed sales - the sale of foreclosed homes or those facing foreclosure. The CoreLogic figures show prices for distressed homes falling faster than for other houses.

December sales prices for St. Louis homes not facing foreclosure were down 2.15 percent from a year ago, compared to a 3.97 percent decline if foreclosures and homes facing foreclosure are included.

Nationally, prices show the same pattern, indicating that non-distressed properties may be closer to hitting bottom easy payday loans.

“Until distressed sales in the market recede, we will see continued downward pressure on prices,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

A reduction in distressed sales may already be happening in St. Louis, although the latest figures are for September.

Foreclosed homes made up 13 percent of St. Louis County sales from July through September, compared to 18 percent in the previous three months, according to figures released this week from RealtyTrac, an on-line market for foreclosed homes.

Foreclosures fell to 13 percent from 16 percent in St. Charles County, to 16 from 19 percent in St. Louis city and to 15 from 23 percent in Jefferson County.

Prices for distressed homes remain well below similar houses. In St. Louis city, for instances, foreclosed homes sold at about half the market price.

Nationally, distressed homes made up 20 percent of the market and sold at a 34 percent discount to comparable homes, according to RealtyTrac.

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Hoping to end months of anxiety and confusion at Lake of the Ozarks, Ameren Missouri is formally seeking to redraw the Bagnell Dam project boundary to exclude more than 1,500 lakefront homes and other structures in jeopardy of condemnation.

St. Louis-based Ameren, which owns the lake, filed the proposal with federal regulators on Tuesday. The plan would remove more than 28,000 acres of land around the lake from federal jurisdiction.

If approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the plan promises to put to rest at least some of the tumult surrounding a shoreline management plan issued by regulators last summer.

Ameren owns and manages the lake, dam and Osage hydroelectric plant under FERC’s oversight. Terms are spelled out in a 40-year license issued in 2007.

The license requires Ameren to submit a plan to manage land within the Bagnell Dam project, a narrow ring of shoreline encircling the lake. Around much of the lake, the project boundary is defined by elevation, varying from 662 feet to 678 feet above sea level.

The shoreline plan approved by FERC on July 26 required that homes and other structures built within the Bagnell Dam boundary be “removed,” igniting a furor among lakefront property owners who worried they may lose their homes. Banks and real estate companies warned it would damage an already fragile real estate market. And Missouri’s congressional delegation proposed legislation to limit federal oversight of the lake.

After weeks of criticism, FERC clarified its order last fall, saying the original plan was widely misinterpreted. The agency also scolded Ameren for lax management of shoreline development, and ordered a new plan.

The new shoreline proposal would ensure the homes and businesses can remain. It would not clear up title disputes, but utility is trying to find a resolution to those issues, too, said Jeff Green, Ameren Missouri’s supervisor of shoreline management.

“We’re working with title companies and stakeholders and impacted property owners now to determine what the best method will be,” he said personal business card.

Ameren’s shoreline proposal would alter the Bagnell Dam project boundary to an elevation-based 662 feet above sea level around most of the lake. In some instances, the boundary would be lowered below 662 feet to exclude existing occupied structures. In other cases, the boundary would be higher than 662 to preserve public access sites, state parks, wetlands and historic properties, Green said.

FERC regulations require that only land needed for the dam’s operation, recreation, shoreline control and environmental protection be included in the boundary.

A draft proposal of the plan had been reviewed by FERC staff, regulatory agencies and residents. The utility solicited comments and held two meetings at the lake in early January to get public input.

According to Ameren’s submission to FERC, more than three-fourths of 400-plus comments received were in opposition to the new shoreline plan, though in many cases residents misunderstood the existing project boundary or the utility’s proposal.

“We’ve been working hard throughout this 30-day comment period to share as many facts as we can,” Green said.

Many Lake of the Ozarks residents say the plan doesn’t go far enough. They want the boundary lowered further, to 660 feet.

But Green said that’s the maximum operating level for the lake, and doesn’t leave room for a FERC-approved one-foot flood buffer. The lake level has exceeded 660 feet in 23 of the last 35 years, Green said.

There is no timeline for FERC to rule on Ameren’s shoreline proposal.

Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer sent a letter to FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff on Wednesday asking for an expedited review.

Ameren, too, is hoping for a resolution. “We’re hoping they can work quickly,” Green said.

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That is, if the 27 government leaders can even get to European Union headquarters in time for Monday’s meeting.

Belgium’s three main unions are joining hands as of late Sunday in a 24-hour strike to protest national budgetary measures that have in part been imposed on Belgium by the EU. If the country hadn’t met cost-cutting targets, financial sanctions would have been imposed.

Instead of a beacon for a better future, many Europeans are starting to see the EU as a death knell, one that is suffocating them with austerity instead of supporting them with job-boosting measures.

“We fully understand the sentiments of all Europeans, especially here in Belgium, where we are so close, the frustrations and doubt and the worries,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

The question is where to find money to boost growth when debt is preoccupying everyone. The austerity measures raise taxes and cut benefits for hundreds of thousands of workers in Belgium. And Monday’s strike has been mirrored in many other member states.

Overall, 23 million people are jobless across the EU, 10 percent of the active population.

“Europe has to offer jobs, social protection and perspective for the future. Otherwise it risks losing the support of its citizens,” said the strike manifesto of the ACV union.

For Monday, Thalys and Eurostar bullet trains to Brussels have already been cut, one airport has been closed and Brussels international airport is expecting heavy disruption. Contingency plans have been made to get the 27 European leaders to the center of Brussels, but even then convoys could end up in choking traffic if workers block the capital’s beltway during morning rush hour.

No major demonstrations are planned but the union leaders will head to the summit site to deliver a symbolic “eurobond” _ pressing for a joint pooling of debt in the eurozone, a measure that has been steadfastly opposed by Germany.

The noise of workers and lack of growth is having a profound impact on Monday’s summit.

Even if the debt crisis in Greece will take center stage for part of the meeting, “at the same time, we need to take active measures to enhance growth and competitiveness and above all create jobs,” EU president Herman van Rompuy said.

The leaders, though, will be happy to learn that Greece and investors who own its bonds have reached a tentative deal to significantly reduce the country’s debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion bailout.

Negotiators for the investors announced the agreement Saturday and said it could become final within the next week. If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weak financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept multibillion-dollar losses.

Still, it doesn’t resolve the weakening economic conditions in Greece and other European nations as they rein in spending to get their debts under control.

Under the agreement, investors holding euro206 billion in Greek bonds would exchange them for new bonds worth 60 percent less.

Without an agreement, bankruptcy would loom large for Greece and raise a big question mark over the euro currency shared by 17 nations.

Another divisive issue is a German proposal that debt-ridden Greece temporarily cede sovereignty over tax and spending decisions to a powerful eurozone budget commissioner before it can secure further bailouts.

The idea was quickly rejected by Barroso’s Commission and the government in Athens, both insisting the budget remain a national prerogative.

At the same time, the EU also has to deal with an increasingly tough labor market.

Spain’s brutal unemployment rate has soared to nearly 23 percent and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people _ or almost one out of every four _ out of work as the country slides toward recession.

To help jump-start the EU toward more growth and employment, the EU Commission is proposing to the summit leaders to redirect euro82 billion in existing funds toward countries in dire need of help to fix their labor market.

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Net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 increased to $25.2 million, or $1.12 a share, from $23.4 million, $1.05 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Sales fell 7.5 percent.

Earnings for the company’s gas utility, Laclede Gas Co., rose slightly, reflecting an increase in infrastructure surcharge revenue and lower maintenance expenses, the company said.

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Interest payments will cost the government 3.1 percent of gross domestic product this year, according to Office of Management and Budget and International Monetary Fund data compiled by Bloomberg. That

Three weeks into the year, borrowing rates for debt-saddled countries have fallen to more manageable levels. Auctions of government debt have gone better, a sign of increased investor confidence.

And while it may have been an embarrassment, especially to France, the recent downgrade of nine European countries by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has been met with a shrug in financial markets.

All this is in stark contrast to the final weeks of last year, when countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece watched helplessly as the costs of managing their debt spiraled ever higher, and governments fell in Athens and Rome.

High hurdles remain: Greece must still cut a deal with its private creditors, to say nothing of the long-term problems _ massive debt, uncompetitive economies and the prospect of years of cutbacks in public spending.

But for the moment, the continent is exhaling.

Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, after his country successfully sold euro2.5 billion of its national debt on Thursday, ventured that it was “a sign that we may be coming to a turning point.”

Among other good news in the past week:

_ Despite now having an AA+ credit rating, France easily sold euro9.5 billion, or about $12.2 billion, in bonds at interest rates lower than in previous auctions when its rating was AAA. The sale eased fears that S&P’s downgrade of France would hurt the finances of the continent’s No. 2 economy. France sold four-year bonds at 1.89 percent, down from 2.32 percent in November, and 10-year, inflation-linked bonds at 1.07 percent, also down from 2.32 percent.

_ Spain raised euro6.6 billion ($8.5 billion), far more than its initial target of euro3.5 billion to euro4.5 billion. It agreed to pay 5.4 percent on its bonds, down from 5.54 percent in the last such auction in December. Demand was twice what was being offered.

_ Stock indexes in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain _ plus the Dow Jones industrial average in the United States _ have climbed back close to their levels from last August, when the crisis spread to Italy and took a turn for the worse.

The European Central Bank, chief monetary authority for the 17 countries that use the euro currency, gets some of the credit for sending cash flowing to banks _ and through them, it appears, to troubled countries.

In December, the ECB said it would lend banks unlimited amounts of money to stabilize them. It also said it would lower the interest rate on the loans to 1 percent, extend the maximum term from one year to three and accept collateral of lower quality. The banks responded by borrowing euro489 billion ($632.6 billion) in three-year loans at a low interest rate, currently 1 percent.

The banks appear to have used at least some of that money to buy the bonds that governments have been selling almost daily. The extra demand at the bond auctions also helps bring down the interest rates on the bonds.

Stefan Schneider, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, says the ECB “is now the main source of financing” for the troubled countries’ banks “and gives these banks the opportunity to invest in the government bonds of their own countries.”

Another ECB all-you-can-eat credit offering is slated for Feb. 28.

The central bank has refused pleas to expand its limited program and buy government bonds itself on the open market. It says countries need to cut debt themselves and not expect a central bank bailout.

Members of the ECB governing council have cited law that prohibits the bank from financing governments. Some analysts say the massive bank loans appear to be doing exactly that, just indirectly.

Schneider, though, cautioned that there is no “magic bullet” to solve the crisis.

“I think we will not be able, even with the advantage of hindsight, to indicate the point in time when the crisis ended,” he said.

On Friday, stocks in Europe mostly held their gains for the week, waiting for the outcome of Greece’s negotiations with its creditors on a deal to cut the face value of up to euro200 billion in debt by 50 percent.

A deal in Athens would allow the country to receive a second bailout package from other European governments and the International Monetary Fund, and cut Greece’s debt from an estimated 160 percent of its annual economic output to 120 percent by 2020.

That is still painfully high, but without the help, Greece will not be able to pay euro14.5 billion ($18.8 billion) in debt due March 20. A Greek default would send borrowing costs higher across Europe and could trigger chaos in the global financial system.

Even with a deal, Greece could default in coming years. An IMF review in December conceded that 120 percent is at the upper end of what is sustainable, and only if Greece’s economy starts growing again after five years of recession.

And Greece is just one potential problem. Many countries are either headed for recession or stuck in deep ones, which will make debt reduction even tougher.

While Portugal, Greece and Ireland could be bailed out by the other euro countries and the IMF, Italy is considered much too big to rescue for any substantial length of time.

The new prime minister, Mario Monti, has promised to shake up what he calls an over-regulated, underperforming economy, accelerate economic growth and reduce the country’s debt burden, which is also 120 percent of its annual economic output. But he faces tough political opposition.

Spain has taken some steps to loosen regulations on hiring and firing but has no clear growth model after the collapse of its real estate bubble. Unemployment is 22.9 percent, and for people under 25, it’s a staggering 49.6 percent.

Bank stocks got a big bounce Thursday after stronger-than-expected bank earnings in the United States and word that Germany’s Commerzbank could meet new requirements to boost its capital buffers without needing government help.

This week’s stock rally across Europe left Germany’s DAX 30 9.5 percent higher over the past month, France’s CAC up 8.7 percent and the FTSE 100 in London up 5.9 percent.

Investors are all too aware that previous respites from market turmoil have turned out to be temporary.

For now, investors can increase their holdings of risky assets, says Joerg Kraemer, chief economist at Commerzbank. But he had an ominous warning this week in a note to investors.

“The ECB can only buy time,” he said. “With many problems still unresolved in Spain and Italy, the sovereign debt crisis is likely to continue, and the economic recovery following the recession is likely to be lackluster.”

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The president was announcing those steps and others in a visit Thursday to Walt Disney World near Orlando, just as Republican presidential candidates prepare to blanket Florida ahead of the state’s Jan. 31 primary.

The White House says that more than 1 million U.S. jobs could be created over the next decade, according to industry projections, if the U.S. increases its share of the international travel market.

Thursday’s trip is Obama’s latest attempt to steal a share of the spotlight from Republicans in the midst of their presidential nomination fight.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

President Barack Obama is pitching a plan for boosting U.S. tourism near Orlando, just as Republican presidential candidates prepare to blanket Florida with an anti-Obama message ahead of the state’s Jan. 31 primary.

Thursday’s trip is the latest attempt by the White House and Obama campaign to steal a share of the spotlight from Republicans in the midst of their nomination fight. Obama held a live video conference with Iowa voters during the Republican caucus, Vice President Joe Biden held a similar event with voters in New Hampshire as primary votes there were being counted, and next week Obama will travel to Nevada, which follows Florida on the primary calendar.

Obama’s high-profile trip to Florida _ the president will speak at Walt Disney World _ could help him counter attacks on his record lobbed by Republican presidential candidates during stops across the state, and in television ads already running in Florida. And it allows Obama to lay the groundwork for the general election campaign in Florida, a key political battleground he carried in 2008 instant payday loan.

The White House said Obama would unveil a new strategy to boost tourism and travel during his speech at Disney. The announcement is part of the president’s “We Can’t Wait” initiative aimed at promoting executive actions Obama can take without congressional approval.

Tourism is a key component of the economy in Florida, which is burdened by 10 percent unemployment and rampant home foreclosures.

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney already has been testing economic attacks on Obama in Florida. A campaign mailer sent recently to Florida Republicans said: “Our economy has fallen flat. Who’s to blame?” Another proclaims that Romney is the strongest to lead the country out of economic turmoil, arguing, “With conservative leadership, America can be first in the world in job creation again.”

A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the president in a near-statistical tie with Romney in a head-to-head matchup.

The White House insists the president’s trip to Florida is not purely political. Obama spokesman Jay Carney said that if the White House couldn’t travel to any state with a primary, “that would make it impossible for us.”

From Florida, Obama will fly to New York City for four glitzy campaign fundraisers, including an event at the famed Apollo Theater featuring performances by Al Green and India Arie. Tickets to that fundraiser start at $100.

The president also will attend a $35,800 per ticket fundraiser at the home of director Spike Lee, and two small fundraisers at Daniel, an exclusive Manhattan restaurant. Tickets start at $5,000 for the first restaurant fundraiser and $15,000 for the second.

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Markets were also buoyed by a report showing a decline in European inflation and solid demand for short-term debt auctions in Europe.

The Shanghai Composite () in China surged 4.2%, while the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong soared 3.2% and the Nikkei () in Tokyo rose 1.1%.

China’s gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 8.9% in the fourth quarter. That was slower than the prior quarter’s 9.1% GDP, but was still slightly better than expected.

"Asian markets are firmly on the front foot overnight after the latest Chinese data confirmed that the economic slowdown was less-than-feared," wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Colin Tan, in a research note.

In Europe, markets ended Tuesday’s trading session higher. The DAX () in Frankfurt gained 1.8%, while the CAC 40 () in Paris rose 1.4% and London’s FTSE () added 0.7%.

The Greek debt dance heating up

European markets also got a boost from a report showing the annual rate of inflation in the euro area slowed down to 2.7% in December, compared to 3% the prior month, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office.

Short-term debt auctions continue to draw decent demand. Spain sold €4.88 billion of 12- and 18-month bills Tuesday, at the high end of expectations.

"[Spain] was better than anticipated and could be considered a successful auction," said Tommy Molloy, chief dealer at FX Solutions in Saddle River, NJ.

Investors will be keen to see how Spain’s bond auctions on Thursday fare since those will include maturities up to 10 years payday loans in one hour. Currently the yield on Spain’s 10-year bond is hovering around 5%.

The European Financial Stability Facility, Europe’s bailout fund, also drew solid demand for its auction of 6-month bills Tuesday, despite its recent downgrade by Standard & Poor’s.

Molloy said that investors weren’t worried about the downgrade because of the relatively short duration of the bills.

But don’t break out the champagne just yet.

Europe’s debt crisis is far from over, and Greece, which is at the center of the crisis, is facing some critical decisions.

Europe debt crisis: End in sight? Not so fast

High level discussions over Greek debt are resuming this week and officials from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission are back in Athens reviewing the country’s finances.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and officials from the Institute of International Finance have been trying to reach consensus on a plan to reduce the value of Greek bonds by 50% to reduce the country’s debt load to 120% of economic output by 2020.

Worries about a Greek default are rearing their ugly head yet again, with a Fitch official telling Reuters that it was a likely scenario, though it would be orderly.

For now, the good news spread to Wall Street. S&P 500 (), Dow Jones industrial average () and Nasdaq () were about 1% higher.  

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