Want a bargain on a house? Try snapping something up in on of these 25 US cities that saw the greatest plunges in their home prices in the 3rd quarter:

25. New Haven-Milford, CT -13.1%
24. New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ -13.9%
23. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA -14.1%
22. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA -14.5%
21. NY: Newark-Union, NJ-PA -14.8%
20. Trenton-Ewing, NJ -15.0%
19. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT -15.6%
18. Lansing-E.Lansing, MI -15.6%
17. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL -16.2%
16. Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV -16.3%
15. Jacksonville, FL -17.0%
14. Boise City-Nampa, ID -17.4%
13. Kingston, NY -18.4%
12. Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, FL -20.8%
11. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL -21.9%
10. Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL -22.0%
9. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ -22.9%
8. Ocala, FL -24.0%
7. Reno-Sparks, NV -24.1%
6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL -24.6%
5. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL -24.6%
4. Orlando, FL -26.0%
3. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA -26.0%
2. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV -34.5%
1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL -40.0%

Source: National Association of Realtors

The NAR announced in their 3rd quarter report, “To be sure the numbers are mixed and some areas are experiencing reversals, but over all we are beginning to pull ourselves up out of this slump. As long as we continue to see a Fed willing to support the markets until they are strong enough to stand on their own, we should be able top avoid a double dip,”

Seems that if you have the cash, now is a good time to buy, especially with the homebuyer tax credit getting extended and expanded. The question is, how much of a threat is any further depreciation? You don’t want to end up underwater or nothin’.

Current Report: Single-family 3rd Quarter 2009 (PDF) [National Association Of Realtors]
NAR Report Third Quarter [Your Property Path News Brief]
(Illustration: p0na)

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