Merced, Calif.
DAVID H. WELLS—PHOTODISC/GETTY IMAGES
Home prices in Merced, Calf., jumped nearly 129 percent from 2002 to 2006. But after the euphoria subsided, home prices crashed more than 72 percent through the third quarter of 2009. This rapid deflation has dragged about 64 percent of single-family home mortgages underwater as of the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Zillow.
