Looking to buy a house after   Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller indices  recent report that home prices are up 0.9 percent from June to July?

The Modesto, Calif., metro area may be a good a place to snatch up property after home values in the area declined by more than 64 percent since hitting their peak in January 2006. On the other hand, if you’re looking a for a place to settle down, the Pittsburgh metro area may be one of the best places to call home.

The Pennsylvania metro area has seen values shrink by only 1.9 percent since peaking in July 2007. For California home buyers, it’s been a tough year. Merced metro and Stockton metro join Modesto as the three areas with the steepest declines  since hitting peak prices in December 2005 and March 2006, respectively.

“The top 3 markets that have fallen most in terms of value from peak are all in California, which was one of the hardest hit states in the U.S. in terms of the housing recession,”  said Svenja Gudell, a senior economist for Zillow.

Las Vegas is the only metro area outside of California among the top five on the list of areas that have fallen the farthest from their peak values.

“The top California cities had a slightly higher run-up to the collapse of the housing bubble in 2006 than Las Vegas, which leaves more room for home values to fall further from peak in those cities,” Gudell said. “While Las Vegas home values are no longer in a ‘free fall,’ Las Vegas Metro home values are still down 0.9 percent on a month over month basis and also down 9.6 percent on a year over year basis.”

Each metro area in the top 25 for steepest decline in values experienced a loss of more than 50 percent since reaching its peak in 2006 or 2005. What area is faring better? Rochester, N.Y. The median home value in the metro area went from  $122,400 in September 2009 to $120,300 in July 2011. The decline for the two-year period was the lowest of any metro area at 1.7 percent, according to data from Zillow.

For areas such as Rochester and Pittsburgh, that managed to retain much of their peak value, there was less of a housing bubble and housing prices were able to remain relatively stable, Gudell said.

Before you go on a buying spree, we asked Zillow, the online home and real estate marketplace, to create a list of metro areas that have fallen the most and since hitting their peak. The real estate company used current home value data from July to generate a list on the areas that have fallen the farthest and the least from their peak.

The 9 Metro Areas That Have Fallen the Most