In recent years, the cities with the steepest decline in home prices were the "usual suspects" -- notably cities in California, Nevada, Arizona or Florida, where home prices boiled up during the boom and evaporated in the bust. Home prices in most of those cities have stabilized (and some of them now appear on the list of cities with the greatest price increases for the past year).

Most of the cities that made the desultory dozen list peaked late compared with the national market, finally done in by the recession’s high rate of unemployment and foreclosure. Most of them still have an oversupply of inventory, although many have recently seen rising sales.

All of the metropolitan areas we've ranked have a population of at least 200,000. Change in home prices reflects the one-year period through September 30, 2011, when the national average was -2.6% and the median home price was $171,250. We also report the change since the national peak in home prices, in the second quarter of 2006. Sales and inventory numbers were drawn from the most current market reports (October or November 2011). Unemployment rate is as of October 2011, when the national average was 8.5%. Foreclosure rate is as of September 30, 2011, when the national average rate was 1 of every 213 housing units, or 0.47%.

Find out which 12 metro areas have housing markets where home prices have fallen the most.