Included in the Moody's/REAL report is the quarterly National Property Type Indices, which noted an improvement in the third quarter compared to the second for all sectors except office. The 12.2% drop in values for office in Q3 puts the peak-to-trough decline for the sector at 36.2%. In the report's Top Ten MSAs indices, office prices dropped 19.3%, making office the only sector to experience larger value declines in the top 10 markets than nationally.

Apartment prices, which declined 10.9% in Q3, dropped off less than they had in the previous two quarters. The peak-to-trough decline for apartments is 39.5%. Industrial's 8.1% decline was considerably less than the record-setting 20.4% drop the sector experienced in Q2, while retail property values showed a minor 2.5% gain after seven consecutive quarters of flat or negative price growth, the report states.

RCA said Friday that total transaction volume this year for the four major sectors and hotels will total just $49 billion, less than half of the 2008 tally and below even the $80 billion recorded in 2001. "While astonishingly low and an excellent illustration of the vast frustration over the still-stagnant credit markets and the interrelated murkiness of the outlook for operating fundamentals and asset pricing for performing and troubled properties alike, the 2009 total represents a modestly improving investment picture," according to RCA's latest issue of US Capital Trends.

Across most sectors, asset sales "have moved unequivocally off of their lows from earlier in the year," according to RCA. "Throughout the fall, sales have been gaining ground month-to-month, as investors gain confidence on pricing for select assets, and some sellers--and lenders--seek to cut their losses."