TAMPA - Four Florida counties are among the nation's hardest-hit by home price declines, but there are signs that the free-falling prices are starting to flatten, according to a report released this morning by Integrated Asset Services, which tracks home valuations for banks, investors and hedge funds.

Hernando and Pasco counties saw drops of 43 percent and 56 percent, respectively, since prices peaked in July 2006, the report states.

Two other Florida counties were named among the 10 counties with the steepest drops. Charlotte and Lee counties had price drops of 43 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

The index tracks data from 15,000 neighborhoods and shows changes in 360 counties, nine census divisions, four regions and the nation overall.

The good news is that the decline is slowing.

In fact, both Hernando and Pasco counties showed gains in sales prices from March to April. The counties saw modest gains of 0.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Prices in Charlotte and Lee counties continued to drop, but not by as much as in previous months. Charlotte saw a monthly drop of 2 percent and Lee saw a monthly drop of 10 percent, the report showed.

The report does not include data on Hillsborough or Pinellas counties. But the most recent information from the Florida Association of Realtors shows that the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater metro area has been hit hard. The median sales price of existing homes was $135,800 in March. That's down 24 percent from $178,300 in March 2008.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.