The end is in sight for the housing market downturn - but there will be little price growth until 2013, economists have predicted.
The centre for economics and business research (cebr) said improved conditions suggested property prices only had about a further 8% left to fall.
But it warned that a "sluggish recovery" in the real economy meant prices would only rise by 6% during 2010 and 2011.
Cebr expects properties to lose 28% of their value from their peak in the third quarter of 2007, to the trough, which it thinks will be in the first quarter of next year.
Even with an anticipated rise in mortgage approvals to about 50,000 a month by late summer and improving credit conditions, price rises are expected to be modest.
Cebr predicts the average cost of a home will increase by just 3.1% between the fourth quarter of this year and the final three months of 2010, followed by a further 2.5% the year after.
But house price growth is expected to pick up again during 2012 or 2013.
Cebr predicted the average cost of a property would recover to £170,000 by the final quarter of 2013 - up from a predicted £144,000 at the end of this year.
Benjamin Williamson, authors of the report, said Halifax and Nationwide surveys showed a marked slowdown in the rate of decline in prices.
Bank of England lending data also showed "a modest but still noticeable increase in mortgage approvals", they said.
"This data... has led some industry insiders to call the bottom of the market already, but we feel that these calls are slightly premature," the authors said.
"Worsening conditions in the labour market and the wider economy seem likely to counter-balance historically low interest rates and slowly improving credit conditions."
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