The latest report from Zillow indicates that one-third of Americans who sold their home in the past year lost money.

"The fact that one-quarter of markets in Zillow's third quarter reports show negative or relatively flat annualized change over five years is an indication of the enormous amount of value that has been taken out of the real estate market through home value depreciation in the past few years," said Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow vice president of data and analytics. "It's clear we are at a unique point in history; we've had seven consecutive quarters of decline, and we expect that to continue until at least the middle of next year. Most markets are still seeing five-year annualized returns, but we will see more markets slip into flat or negative long-term change as the economy continues to suffer, factors like job losses begin to further affect foreclosure rates and home values continue to decline."

The report continued that many areas in California and then also the Greater Boston and Cleveland areas of the nation were hardest hit.