Survey says: real estate bottoms in 2012

More than 100 economists and real estate experts surveyed believe home prices will continue dropping in 2012.

The online real-estate firm Zillow conducted the survey, in which the respondents said they expect the market to turn up in 2013, followed by a steady annual appreciation rate of roughly 3 percent through 2016.

“There is a consensus among the nation’s top housing experts that we have not yet reached a bottom and are instead working through a prolonged bottoming process. Negative equity, unemployment and low consumer confidence remain the key factors delaying a true recovery,” said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist.