Home prices in the area have dropped to a record 18.2 percent from November 2007, according to a housing index report released Tuesday.

The average median prices of homes in Rockland and Orange counties have gone down 14 percent and 19 percent respectively in the last 12 months. However, Joseph Rand, a managing director of Prudential Realty, predicts that the end to the housing slump is near.

?Prices will continue to decline for the next year and a half slightly, but at some point it?s going to get to the level where buyers will come back to the market,? Rand says.

Rand says people who need to move because of a new job or to be closer to family need to price their houses realistically, but those who are not in a rush to sell should wait for the housing market to swing back up.

?If they don't need to sell, they shouldn't sell,? he says. ?There's nothing forcing anyone to sell right now.?