Top housing markets to avoid in 2012

Data generated by CNN Money and RealtyTrac has identified the top 100 U.S. zip codes that were most severely affected by the subprime mortgage crisis with the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. In 2011, 82 of the top 100 zip code were from Western states, with 38 in California and 28 in Nevada.

The top five hardest hit zip codes are all in Las Vegas in communities that were created in the last 10 to 20 years and were once thriving metro areas. The worst hit neighborhood in the country is in north Las Vegas in zip code 89031, which reported 2,469 foreclosure filings in 2011.

While most homeowners in these hard hit areas saw their home equity depreciate as the housing market plummeted, many other factors can also be bringing down home values for sellers. The Seattle Times reported that bad neighbors can also depreciate a home's value on the market, particularly when buyers have a vast number of homes to choose from.

If a neighbor does not take care of their property, house obnoxious pets or live an uncommon lifestyle that interferes with a buyer's schedule, it can make the property less appealing, the source states. The longer the home stays on the market, the lower the price drops.

"The trouble with a bad neighbor, is that they are unpredictable and it's difficult to correct that problem," Mike Skahen, owner of Lake and Company Real Estate, told the source. "It's not like a bad floor plan you can fix, or even living next to a busy street where you could get better windows that block the sound."

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