Forbes Names Cities With Biggest Price Drops

Cities that experienced housing recessions were affected as much by local economic factors as they were by national ones, according to a study by Local Market Monitor for Forbesmagazine.

Cities that have lost the most value are concentrated in the Midwest where unemployment has taken its toll, and in parts of California, Florida, and Nevada where the rising cost of housing encouraged home buyers to gamble on their ability to afford housing long term.

On average, housing markets on the West Coast lost the most value – 21.6 percent since their peak. Florida lost 31 percent. The Northeast lost an average of 8.6 percent, and the Midwest on average lost only 5.6 percent.

Here are the top five cities in each region that lost the most value:

West
Merced, Calif.: -62.11 percent
Stockton, Calif.: -54.29
Modesto, Calif.: -52.42
Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.: -47.62
Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.: -47.53

South
Port St. Lucie, Fla.: -46.43 percent
Cape Coral-Fort-Myers, Fla.: -46.38
Naples-Marco Island, Fla.: -43.63
Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Fla.: -41.52
Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. -39.93

Midwest
Detroit-Livonia, Mich., -30.66
Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., -27.95
Flint, Mich., -27.47
Ann Arbor, Mich., -20.37
Jackson, Mich., -17.30

Northeast
Providence-New Bedford, R.I., -17.30
Worcester, Mass., -16.17
Atlantic City, N.J., -16.15
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, N.Y., -14.60
Barnstable Town, Mass., -14.48



Source: Forbes, Francesca, Levy (12/21/2009)