Here are some nice statistics from CNN Money The chart includes median home prices - price appreciation over the past five years, worst one year decline (and year), Forecast growth to April 2008, and the ratio of an average mortgage (not sure how they calculate that) to median income in the area. Many cities in California are very high on that scale - with Los Angeles being one of the worst. Chicago's worst one year drop was in 1981-1982 - with a 1% decline. (They must have thought the sky was falling..) That said - this year might beat that.