Despite the gloomy national economic outlook and the weak conditions in the housing market, there are now some positive signs showing hope that the housing market is about to hit bottom nationally in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a report from MoodysEconomy.com

When the end of the housing downturn arrives, housing prices at nearly 62 percent of the nation's 381 metro areas will have declined by double digits, the reports author's said, according to Reuters. The report is titled Housing in Crisis: When will Metro Markets Recover? It has been released from an independent subsidiary of Moody's Corp and was authored by chief economist Mark Zandi and his team, which includes Celia Chen, senior director of housing economics, Cristian deRitis and Andres Carbacho-Burgos.

More than three years since the market began correcting, inventories are flattening, prices are coming back down to earth, and sales are approaching stability, the report said.

The report notes that even with further government plans and action the current recession will keep the housing market from fully recovering until the end of this year.