By ANDREW JEFFERY

The broken record rambles on: Home prices keep falling.

The latest reading from the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index showed another record decline, as prices tumbled 18.5% from a year ago. And again, the worst performing metro regions were out west, with Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco leading the way to the downside. The 20-city index has now slid 27% from its 2006 peak.

The ongoing home price declines, which many attribute to steadily rising foreclosures helped spur the latest government-backed efforts to rescue the housing market. And while most commentators heavily criticized the Obama Administration’s $275 billion housing relief plan, take a read of Cirios’ Austin Nelson’s excellent take — a little optimism never hurt anyone, especially with the resounding and ubiquitous negativity we read in the daily headlines.

There isn’t much new to glean from the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index, it’s still just bad out there. However dire the data continue to be, keep in mind home sales transactions typically bottom prior to prices. In the markets first to see precipitous declines, Cirios data analysis indicates ongoing increases in sales. And while the most distressed areas certainly show the strongest rises in transactions, mid-range areas are seeing more activity as well. Not so for the high end, where buying activity has all but evaporated.

But you, our Cirios readers, already knew that.

Far from being a bottom call, this is trend an example of the housing correction at work. While we would argue prices will continue to decline for foreseeable future, the reality is that homes are more affordable today than they were yesterday. And will be more so tomorrow. And tomorrow. And so on.

At some point in every market, prices begin to make sense again and buyers gingerly step into the water. The sharks are still circling, to be sure, but most are full and lazy, the new arrivals having more and more trouble finding a tasty snack.