According to a widely cited 2005 study, a foreclosure within a quarter-mile of your home will lower its value by 1%.

Two foreclosures within a quarter-mile will lower its value by 2%. Three foreclosures -- 3%.

Indeed, every foreclosure up to two football fields from your front door is going to cost you, says Dan Immergluck, a Georgia Institute of Technology professor who cowrote the study.

That's because foreclosures add to the glut of homes already on the market and banks often sell repossessed homes at a discount just to be rid of them.

What's the probability of having a foreclosure near you?

Pretty good.

A new congressional report from the Joint Economic Committee estimates 1.3 million subprime mortgages -- high-cost loans usually, but not always, given to borrowers with bad credit -- will end in foreclosure from mid-2007 through 2009.

Those foreclosures will wipe out an estimated $71 billion in housing wealth directly and another $32 billion indirectly by lowering the values of neighboring homes.

The risk of having a foreclosure near you is particularly high if you live in states like Nevada, Florida, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Texas, which have the most foreclosure filings on a per-capita basis.

Click here to see how home prices are changing in more than 140 cities across the country.