Home prices didn’t fall as quickly as expected in the final three months of 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors latest report.

In fact, home prices showed so much improvement that we have to wonder if they’ll really fall another 5% to 10% this year as some experts have projected.

The national median price of a home in the fourth quarter of 2009 was down 4.1% from a year ago.

Fewer cities suffered the kind of double-digit declines that were so common during the recession and almost half actually saw property values rise.

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The best CD rates slipped lower this month, with returns on most of the top-paying certificates of deposit losing about a tenth-of-a-point since the end of January.

Although Hudson City Bank continues to offer 2.80% on its industry-leading 36-month certificate of deposit, you’ll earn less on the 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-month CDs that lead our rankings.

Here’s our end-of-the-month rundown of the best, nationally available CDs:

3-month CDs: 1.25% APY from Fortune Bank with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

6-month CDs: 1.60% APY from Country Bank with a $500 minimum deposit.

12-month CDs: 1.90% APY from Doral Bank Direct with a $1,000 minimum deposit or The Palladian Private Bank with a $10,000 minimum deposit.

24-month CDs: 2.30% APY from Atlantic Coast Bank with a $1,000 minimum deposit, or Hudson City Bank with a $5,000 minimum deposit. (If you live in New Jersey, New York or Connecticut, your minimum is $500.)

36-month CDs: 2.80% APY from Hudson City Bank with a $5,000 minimum deposit. Locals pay $500.

Click here to see how much you can earn with these rates using our certificate of deposit calculator.

That’s the deal through Sunday at Cici’s Pizza.

The 24-foot-long pizza, salad and pasta buffet that usually costs about $6 (already a good buy in Bankaholic’s opinion) has been cut to $3.99 to celebrate the chain’s 25th anniversary.

While Cici’s can’t match the high-end fixings at places like California Pizza Kitchen, it offers a big lineup of intriguing pies, such as the Mexican-themed Ole and Zesty Veggie.

It’s more mundane pepperoni and sausage pizzas also beat the gut-fill you’ll find at the low-end takeout chains. (Little Caesar’s, we’re talking about you.)

Click here to see the entire list of available pizzas. If you don’t find the one you want ready and waiting on the buffet, just ask and they’ll make it.

The cinnamon rolls are to die for and did we mention that it’s all-you-can-eat for just $3.99 this weekend?

So if you live near one of the 650 Cici’s in 33 states, round up your buds and chow down.

Most CD rates declined for the 16th straight month as the Federal Reserve stood by its policy to hold interest rates at record lows for the foreseeable future.

Four of the five certificates of deposit we track finished February lower than they were at the end of January.

The only exception was 5-year CDs, whose average rose slightly to finish the month exactly where it began the year.

It was only the second monthly increase we’ve seen since the financial crisis struck in October 2008 and CD rates began their relentless slide.

Bankrate’s weekly survey of large banks and thrifts taken Feb. 24 found the average annual yield for a:

3-month CD has fallen to 0.33%, down from 0.34% last month and 0.36% at the end of December. It reached a low of 0.32% on Feb. 10, the lowest average since the survey began tracking 3-month CD rates in March 1989.

6-month CD has fallen to 0.46%, down from 0.48% last month and 0.50% at the end of December. It’s the lowest average since the survey began tracking 6-month CD rates in January 1984.

1-year CD has fallen to 0.75%, down from 0.76% last month and 0.82% at the end of December. It’s the lowest average since the survey began tracking 12-month CD rates in October 1983.

2-year CD has fallen to 1.18%, down from 1.20% last month and 1.24% at the end of December. It’s the lowest average since the survey began tracking 24-month CD rates in March 1989.

5-year CD rose to 2.10%, up from 2.07% at the end of January and matching the average rate at the end of December. The 2.06% reached in January remains the lowest average rate since the survey began tracking 60-month CDs in January 1984.

The Federal Reserve boosted the interest rate that commercial banks must pay for emergency loans last week.

But that has no effect on the interest rate banks pay for deposits, and the government-controlled bank made it clear that the move doesn’t signal it’s ready to let those rates start rising again anytime soon.

While the economy is improving, Fed chief Ben Bernanke said in his semi-annual report to Congress on Wednesday, he still expects to hold the rates savers depend on at record lows for “an extended period.”

Until that policy changes, you can’t settle for average returns.

Use our database of CD rates to find and compare the best deals from scores of banks.

Lenders are offering traditional fixed-rate mortgages for less than 5% in nine of the 10 major cities we surveyed this month.

That’s quite an improvement from July when only one of the 10 cities we looked at had those loans available for less than 5%.

It’s nearly as good as what we found in November, when average mortgage rates plunged to new record lows and loans were available for less than 5% in every single city we surveyed.

By any historical standard, a 30-year, fixed-rate loan that costs less than 6.5% is a good deal. That makes today’s rates nothing short of spectacular.

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Country Bank leapt to the top of our rankings of the best 6-month CD rates last month — and it’s still there.

The small bank with 14 branches in central Massachusetts, continues to pay 1.60% APY, with a very reasonable minimum deposit of just $500.

The downside is that you can’t open an account online. You have to call the bank at (800) 322-8233 and a representative will explain how to buy a certificate of deposit by mail.

But Country Bank has been at or near the top of our rankings for almost six months and we haven’t heard a word of complaint about the bank’s customer service.

Four other banks are offering 1.40% APY to savers in all 50 states. They are:

The Jacksonville Bank, which has five locations in northeast Florida and requires a $1,000 minimum deposit.

AmTrust Direct, whose parent company was seized by the FDIC in December and sold to New York Community Bank. It requires a $1,000 minimum deposit.

Earthstar Bank, with four branches in Philadelphia, requires a minimum deposit of $500 in new money to earn this rate.

The Palladian Private Bank, a division of The PrivateBank and Trust Co. , with 34 locations in 10 Midwestern states. A $10,000 minimum is required.

Those rates are more than four times the national average for returns on 6-month CDs, which has fallen to a record low 0.33% APY this month.

Click on our CD calculator to find the return on any certificate of deposit, regardless of size, interest rate or term.

The credit card industry has been on a rate-raising, fee-hiking, rule-writing rampage ever since Congress voted to ban its most abusive practices last spring.

But that aggravating snit fit is finally over.

Most of the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Act law’s important new regulations take effect today.

Many of your credit cards’ most costly and infuriating practices — double-cycle billing, universal default, increasing interest rates on existing balances — are now prohibited.

Unfortunately, the banks are already hard at work on new and creative ways to make up the lost revenue.

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You know how much I love free food.

This one doesn’t light me up quite as much as free tacos on Halloween, but it’s more filling — and fulfilling.

Between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Tuesday (that’s Feb. 23 just to make sure we’re clear) IHOP will be offering a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to every customer.

In return, IHOP hopes you’ll leave a donation for the Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit organization that supports more than 170 children’s hospitals.

National Pancake Day, as it’s dubbed, is annual event that raised $1.5 million for those hospitals last year. IHOP hopes to collect $1.75 million this week.

So be generous. Whatever you give is tax deductible.

Not every bank offers 18-month certificates of deposit, and there’s nothing special about the returns from those that do.

The best 18-month CD rates are about half-way between what you can earn on 12-month and 24-month CDs.

But if you need a CD that will mature in summer 2011, these will work.

They could also hit the sweet spot where rising rates on shorter-term CDs catch up to the yield on these longer CDs just as they mature — if the Federal Reserve will allow interest rates to start rising late this year.

AmTrust Direct, the online arm of AmTrust Bank in Cleveland, offers the best deal — 1.95% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

The other top, nationally available 18-month CD rates are:

1.84% APYwith a $1,000 minimum deposit from Aurora Bank, which is based in Wilmington, Del., with a branch in Jersey City, N.J.

1.82% APY with a $10,000 minimum from Pacific Mercantile Bank, with eight branches in Southern California.

Click here to see how much you can earn with these rates using our certificate of deposit calculator.