Oregon Public Broadcasting

House prices continue to decline -- but not as quickly as last year -- according to new figures from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

The index looks at 20 cities across the country.

In 2009, it found average prices dropped almost 20 percent. But now, those declines are closer to 4-and-a-half percent. The trend indicates prices may stabilize. 

Prices in the Portland area dropped by 7-and-a half percent. Maureen Maitland, with Standard and Poors, says that's a little more than the national average.

Maureen Maitland: "So what we're seeing in the Portland markets seem to be some general trend towards improvement that seems to be continuing into these early winter months."

Property values in Las Vegas saw the steepest decline, with a drop of 24 percent over last year.  San Francisco and Dallas saw  price gains in the 1 percent range.