A new study from U.Va. says that the "housing crisis" — the rise in foreclosures and the significant drop of home values — is concentrated in only a handful of states. And even within a state, a small number of areas are dragging everyone's numbers down.

The analysis, done by U.Va. professor William Lucy and graduate student Jeff Herlitz, looked at all 50 states, 35 major metro areas, and 236 counties.

The results? They found that 87 percent of housing losses in 2008 came from California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona (plus "a modest number of metropolitan counties in other states"). In the rest of the country, although there are pockets of substantial declines, claims that overall housing values have tanked nationwide are exaggerated, they said.