The soft property/casualty market may be approaching its end, according to a survey announced Monday by consultant Towers Perrin.

Overall, U.S. commercial property/casualty prices declined less than 1% during the first quarter of 2009, according to Towers Perrin's Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey.

The decrease was the smallest decline in commercial property/casualty insurance prices in four years, providing “increasing evidence that the soft market is reaching its end,” Towers Perrin said in a statement.

Pricing, however, varied by line and account size, according to the survey.Prices for both property and directors and officers liability rose, “albeit slightly,” during the first quarter, according to the survey.

“Prices for large accounts—those with annual premiums in excess of $50,000—also increased during the first quarter,” Towers Perrin said in its statement. “This upturn in prices is not surprising, as large-account prices eroded substantially more than middle-market and small accounts in 2007 and 2008. In contrast, small-account commercial prices continued their pattern of steady, but smaller, decreases.”

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