The free fall in home values could have had its last breath. New Standard & Poor’s research released Tuesday points to a broad improvement in the sector.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes—the leading measure of U.S. home prices—have shown now some six months of improved performance, though the annual rate of returns in the 10-City and the 20-City Composites remain in negative territory.

The S&P/Case-Schiller Composite-10 Home Price Index declined 12.8 percent in July, as compared with the same month the previous year. The Case-Schiller Composite-20 Home Price Index registered a drop of 13.3 percent in the same period.

“The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many of the markets,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, in a release.

Data shows that all 20 metro areas have registered an improvement in the annual rates of decline in July, as compared with the previous month. (Although, the rate of decline in both indexes still remained in double-digit territory in July.)

Additionally, both composites have had at least three consecutive months of positive readings.

“These figures continue to support an indication of stabilization in national real estate values,” Blitzer said.

Tuesday morning, MacroShares Major Metro Housing exchange-traded funds, which were launched in June, were performing in line with the research’s findings. The funds track the S&P/Case-Shiller indexes.

The MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up (NYSEArca: UMM)—a three-times bet on movements of the S&P/Case-Schiller Composite-10 Home Price Index—was registering gains of more than 3.4 percent, trading near the top of the 52-week price range.

Meanwhile, the MacroShares Major Metro Housing Down (NYSEArca: DMM)—which provides investors with exposure to three-times the inverse of the index—was tallying losses of more than 2 percent Tuesday, nearing the bottom of the 52-week price range.

But Blitzer warned that the road ahead still calls for caution as the market faces not only the expiration of the Federal First-Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit in November, but also expects higher unemployment rates and an increase in foreclosures.

As of July, the average home prices across the U.S.—as demonstrated in the indexes—were at levels similar to those in fall of 2003. But they remained way off their peak levels marked in the second quarter of 2006, with the 10-City Composite down 33.5 percent from those levels and the 20-City down 32.6 percent.

You can read the S&P research here.