We've been hearing lots of good news about the housing market lately. Nationally, we hit a bottom in October 2011, Zillow says, and home values ended 2012 up another 5.9 percent over year-end 2011. The current national median is $158,100.
Of 260 metro areas, 239 have already hit bottom and are climbing out. But that still leaves 21 metro areas that haven't seen their low point yet.
And Zillow predicts that nine of those areas aren't going to hit bottom anytime this year.
Whether that's bad news is somewhat a matter of perspective: If you're a prospective home buyer in one of these markets, there's a very good chance that you have time to get a property for the cheapest it's been in years (or will be again). But homeowners in those areas who are underwater and/or hoping to sell are likely to continue suffering for some time.
Below are the nine metropolitan areas that Zillow doesn't expect to hit bottom before 2014.
This 3-bedroom, 3-bath home in Hartford is listed at $201,900, about $5,000 below the area median. Click the photo …9. Hartford, Connecticut
Metro-area median: $206,800
Forecast through Jan. 2014: -0.3%, for a projected median of $206,282
Projected median: $206,282
Home values in the Hartford metro area are already down 18.2% from the market's 2006 peak, $252,800.