FORBES list of most declining value cities... Good News or Bad News?

Recently Forbes Magazine/Forbes.com released their lists of which cities had been hardest hit by home price declines, measured from peak to now (See the full report by CLICKING HERE)

They have it broken into Regions like Midwest, South, Etc. but judging from the 9 cities listed in the South category, Florida was the only state included in the category!

Of course on the surface this list shows everything that is wrong with our market right now... the top city, Merced California, had a 62.11% decrease from THEIR peak in the 2nd quarter of 2006 (that was the other interesting feature of the list... it shows the quarter and year the city reached their "peak")

Here are 2 ways that I see you can use this info... I'm sure there are many more, and feel free to share them in the comments section.

1)  Useful tool to show to sellers who are having a hard time absorbing the listing price you just suggested.  I don't know about where YOU are, but here in Florida we still have people that think they can get 2006 prices for their homes.  This list is hard-fact, 3rd party proof of current value trends.

2)  Useful tool to show YOU where the market is and what niches you might want to pursue... short sales and investor buyers are 2 that pop to mind right away!

As usual... I'm keeping it short and sweet today!  Enjoy!