From 2006 to 2011, the U.S. housing market experienced the most significant decline in house prices since the Great Depression. Average house prices in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2011 were about 21 percent below their 2006 peak on a national basis and much more in some regional locations. The average national foreclosure rate was 4.95 percent in 2010 and 4.1 percent in 2011, compared with the historical average of 0.32 percent over the 1980-2006 period. The percentage of homeowners nationally who were more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment was 3.5 percent in late 2011, compared with the historical average of 0.78 percent over the 1980-2006 period.