by KYW's Mike Dunn

A new study confirms what real estate agents in the city have been dreading -- Philadelphia home prices are on the decline for the first time in five years. 

Wharton economist Kevin Gillen is out with his latest quarterly survey of the city's real estate market -- this one covers July, August and September  -- and he finds Philly home prices dropping for the first time since 2002:

"The decline was very modest -- it was only one percent over the course of three months. However, it was the first time that the general level of prices in Philadelphia has fallen in about five years."

Other cities have seen prices dropping for many months. Gillen says Philadelphia was late to the housing boom, so he's not surprised the city is late to the bust. He expects prices continue to fall but at a slow pace -- as he put it, 'like a feather.'