The latest housing numbers released Tuesday do not bode well for the New York area, which saw home prices drop 8.6 percent since last year.

The Standard and Poor?s housing index has recorded an 18 percent drop in U.S. housing prices from November 2007- the biggest decline in two decades.

Mary Adams with the Long Island Board of Realtors says that looking only at Long Island, it's not as bad as it seems. Nassau County saw a drop of 3.7 percent, she says, and Suffolk?s drop was 6.4 percent.

Adams also says she?s seen an uptick in interest in real estate because people are trying to scoop up the bargains to be had.

?We've seen an increase since November of the amount of activity that's out there, the amount of people that are seriously looking, not just shopping, because of the interest rates being so low,? Adams says.

The National Association of Realtors says with the current interest rates, those who buy a median-priced home now versus a year ago, would save $254 a month.