Which housing markets have seen the greatest drops in prices? Forbes compiled a list of 13 metropolitan areas in which housing prices fell eight to 15 percent over the past year. The figures were compiled by Local Market Monitor, which examined price drops from October 2010 to September 2011 and projected figures for the next year.

The 13 metropolitan areas and their rates of decrease are:

1. Las Vegas, Nevada – -15.2%
2. Boise, Idaho – -13.4%
3. Phoenix, Arizona – -13%
4. Tucson – -11.9%
5. Fresno, California – -11%
6. Orlando, Florida – -10.9%
7. Sacramento, California – -9.3%
8. Jacksonville, Florida – -8.9%
9. Tacoma, Washington – -8.8%
10. West Palm Beach, Florida – -8.5%
11. Atlanta, Georgia – -8.5%
12. Bakersfield, California – -8.5%
13. Stockton, California – -8.2%

Various factors went into these significant price drops. All markets have a large percentage of foreclosures. When a foreclosure is sold, the price is contributed to the average for the area, and with enough foreclosed properties in a city, the overall property value goes down. In Las Vegas, as we saw, as well as in other cities, nearly half of all properties are foreclosures, and prices have dropped 50 percent on some homes over the past decade.

The subprime housing crisis contributed toward many of these drops, but this isn’t always the case. In Boise, unemployment caused many to stop paying mortgages. About the price drop in her area, Cristina Pescaru, a Realtor with Gold Key Real Estate, told the press:

“Prices in Boise Proper specifically haven’t come down quite as much as people expect, but in other areas around the city, prices have come down as much as 50% from where they were a few years ago. I think we absolutely haven’t seen the bottom of the market here.”

Overall, nationally, prices only dropped 4.5 percent over the same time period. Since the start of the housing crisis in 2007, however, the overall national price is 35-percent lower.

Tags: 13 hardest hit housing markets, hardest hit housing markets, worst housing markets