Forbes loves to make lists.  And Arizona, it seems, loves to be on them.  This week, we received the dubious distinction of being one of the nation’s “25 Weakest Housing Markets.”

That’s the first of the bad news.

The good news is that the Phoenix and Tucson real estate markets are expected to hit bottom by the end of 2009.

Ranked according to when the real estate market is expected to hit bottom, Arizona was among the “best of the worst” -- Phoenix came in 20th and Tucson 22nd, both with forecasted bottoms at the end of 2009.  The market forecast to take the longest to hit bottom is Jacksonville, Florida -- experts predict real estate values will continue falling there until the end of 2011.

25 Weakest Housing Markets, Ranked by Expected Market Bottom

Source: Forbes

But there’s more bad news. . .

Ranked by the forecast price change between the last half of 2008 and the market bottom, Tucson and Arizona don’t fare as well.  Though experts predict we’ll hit bottom at the end of 2009, prices will have fallen an additional 33% in Tucson and 31% in Phoenix before then.  That’s on top of price declines counted between the height of the boom and mid-2008.

25 Weakest Housing Markets, Ranked by Forecast Price Change 2008 to Bottom

Source: Forbes

With a forecast bottom of the end of this year (hey, that’s less than 12 months away), if you don’t have to sell right now, you probably shouldn’t -- hold on just a little bit longer and you’ll see your home value start to rise again.

If you do have to sell right now, clearly the market still isn’t great.  But you don’t have to take it lying down -- there are steps you can take to sell your house for the most money.  Stay tuned for Friday’s Top 10 Tips for Generating Buyer Interest.

And, if you’re a buyer, you’ve got 2009 to get it while the gettin’s good.

What do you think?  Click on the “Comments” link and join the discussion!