Homes Lose $700 Billion in Value in 2011, Report Says

By Sheryl Nance-Nash

The year-end housing news is sobering -- U.S. homes are expected to lose more than $681 billion in value in 2011. But there's an upside -- that's 35 percent less than the $1.1 trillion lost in 2010, according to new research from Zillow, a real estate information marketplace.

What else did the research show? Just nine out of 128 markets analyzed had gains in values in 2011. Bragging rights go to the New Orleans area, where the gains were greatest at $3.5 billion. Pittsburgh claimed the number two spot with a gain of $2.7 billion.

Who were the biggest losers? Big cities with lots of housing, like Los Angeles, down $75.5 billion, New York ($44.8 billion), and Chicago ($41.7 billion). Overall, more than 90 percent of markets lost value.

"While homeowners suffered through another year of steep losses, the good news is that homes are losing value at a substantially slower pace as the market works its way towards the bottom," noted Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries in the report.

Read the full story at DailyFinance.