By Ilyce Glink | CBS MoneyWatch
You can sum up the U.S. real estate market this year in one word: recovery.
Across the nation as a whole, prices have grown by more than 10 percent, and double or even triple that rate in some regions. Some of the hardest-hit states -- California, Florida, Nevada -- are also growing the fastest. Even cities like Modesto, Calif., were real estate prices went off a cliff during the housing crisis are coming back. Although home prices in Modesto are down 49 percent from their pre-crash peak, they have grown 30 percent from this time last year.
But not every town and city is on the comeback trail. At the other end of the spectrum, there are places like Farmington, N.M. Home prices there plunged 20 percent from their peak during the meltdown and are up only 0.03 percent this year. At that rate, it would take centuries for the city's housing market to recover. The reality is that homeowners in the city may never recoup their losses.
And Farmington is in better shape than the communities around the country on this list, which have yet to show any signs of rebounding from the meltdown. Using data compiled for CBSNews.com by real estate analytics provider, we looked not only at cities where home prices have the farthest to go to climb back to their pre-bubble peak, but also where prices are still declining
1. Kankakee, Ill.
Growth needed to match peak: 39.2 percent
Growth this year: -3.5 percent
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Kankakee faces a similar problem as Rockford, Ill. The population is stagnant and its unemployment rate hasn't been below 10 percent since mid-2008. Even selling the city's many foreclosed properties is unlikely to boost home prices much. Unless the city sees a serious economic turnaround, it will be nearly impossible to recover that 39 percent drop in home values.
2. Rockford, Ill.
Growth needed to match peak: 31.5 percent
Growth this year: -3 percent
Residents of two cities in Illinois have the bleakest prospects of seeing home prices rebound. The state's high unemployment rate is the biggest factor restraining prices. At the peak of the recession, Rockford's jobless rate shot up to a whopping 20 percent unemployment rate, and it remains high at around 10 percent.
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