Prices in 100 U.S. Cities Expected To Decline for Next Few Years (click on chart to view)

Home buyers have another reason to sit on their hands.

In the latest news from the slumping U.S. housing market, a report released this week says that median house prices are likely to decline more than 10% over the next few years in 20 metro areas, including Las Vegas, Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C.

The report, by Moody's Economy.com Inc., a research firm in West Chester, Pa., also says that the slump won't end quickly. Indeed, according to the report, prices may keep falling until 2008 or even 2009 in some areas. In all, prices are falling or likely to decline soon in about 100 metro areas, the firm says.

Led by the Southwest coast of Florida, house prices in many U.S. metropolitan areas could see double-digit declines in the coming months and even into 2009, according to a new study that assesses the severity of the unfolding downturn.

Sharp declines, some nearing 20 percent, are forecast by a new study, "Housing at the Tipping Point," released yesterday by Moody's Economy.com of West Chester, Pa. The greatest price drops, apart from Southwest Florida, are forecast in many metropolitan areas of California (except San Francisco), Arizona, Nevada, and the greater Washington, D.C., and Detroit areas.