Dive Brief:

• The more dependent a city’s economy was on home construction before the recession began, the slower it is recovering in its aftermath, according to an analysis by USA TODAY.

• The report’s writers point to six “Sun Belt meccas” in California and Florida that remain as “zombie cities,” where home prices are still between 35% and 42% below their pre-recession peak, even as homes nationwide have recovered an average of 90% of their value.

• The four California cities in the report are: Modesto, Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield, which the authors say were “the ultimate housing boomtowns” during the housing bubble. In Florida, Lakeland, located between Tampa and Orlando, and Melbourne, on the Atlantic coast, made the list.

Dive Insight:

Zillow’s chief economist, Stan Humphries, predicts that nationwide, housing prices will bounce back to pre-recession levels within four years. But hard-hit markets like the six in the report, he noted, could take a decade to get back on track.