MIAMI -- South Florida home prices continue to fall with Miami leading the nation in the steepest drop-off, Local 10 reported.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller index tracks the prices of existing homes in cities across the country. Figures for January 2008 showed sharp drops with prices down 11.4 percent nationwide. Miami and Las Vegas tied as the worst performing cities in the nation with prices falling 19.3 percent.

RELATED: The Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller Index

"We're going to see prices continue to decrease throughout 2008 and through 2009. It probably won't be until 2010 until we see a leveling," said Jack McCabe, a real estate analyst based in Deerfield Beach. “We've got another 20 to 25 percent to go," he told Local 10's Mark Joyella.

McCabe said South Florida's home prices rose so dramatically at the height of the housing bubble that it will take longer for prices to stabilize.

"You've got a situation where prices have to come down so people can afford homes, and that's where we're at. We're going through this correction cycle. It's a very healthy thing," said McCabe.

In Miami, homeowner Zoe Lemus recently dropped his asking price by $100,000 in the hopes of attracting a buyer.

"People like it, they want to buy it, they just don't have the money," said Lemus.

Real-estate brokers said they have seen a slight increase in business. Miami Shores real-estate broker Alice Kellogg posted a 5 percent increase in pending sales last month, and believes a combination of deeply discounted prices, and lower interest rates, has convinced some buyers to get back into the market.

"The buyers have been waiting for the bottom to fall out, waiting for interest rates. Are they going to go lower, are prices going to go lower?" Kellogg said. "I personally think we're there, and if we're not, we're very, very close.”