After three years of slumping house prices, the end of the real estate bust may finally be in sight. Home sales are rising, inventories are shrinking, and most economists believe values nationwide will hit bottom in the second half of the year — but not before falling another 5% to 10% first.

Prices after that should stay mostly flat until 2012. “Next year will clearly be better than this year,” says Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research. “Prices may drop a little more, but the lion’s share of the damage is behind us.”

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