No. 21 Best-Performing Big Metro: Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.

1990 price: $133,270 ($79,800 in 1990 dollars)
2010 price: $129,300
Change in real dollars: -3.0 percent

Population: 2,171,896
Year home prices peaked: 2005

In 2005, prices in the Cincinnati area peaked at $163,186 (in 2010 dollars). They have since dropped by about 20.8 percent. The housing market in greater Cincinnati has historically experienced a 3 percent to 4 percent annual rate of appreciation, but the past four years have been an exception, according to real estate website viewcincinnati.com. The median sale price of homes had fallen slightly below 1990 levels in inflation-adjusted dollars as of this year's third quarter.