The housing crisis that is gripping the nation will amount to an economic loss of about $189 million in the metro Augusta area, according to an economic forecast released Tuesday.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors' report, prepared by financial forecaster Global Insight, said housing woes caused by foreclosures and the pending reset of adjustable-rate mortgages will cut Augusta-Aiken's gross domestic product growth forecast from 2.6 percent to 1.7 percent.

The gross domestic product is the value of all goods and services produced in the six-county metro area.

"This crisis is obviously going to slow growth, and slower growth means slower job growth, less consumer spending and obviously foreclosures," said Dr. Mark Thompson, an economic forecaster and Cree-Walker professor of business administration at Augusta State University.

The cities with the biggest-percentage losses, according to the study, are Myrtle Beach, S.C.; the California cities of Merced, Madera and Napa; and Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. In total dollar terms, New York, Los Angeles and metropolitan Dallas are expected to see the most lost growth.

Dr. Thompson said he believes the local housing impact could have been much worse if the area's housing market had grown out of control, as it did in markets that attracted real estate speculators who inflated housing values beyond normal levels.

"When you don't have that huge boom, it's not as attractive for investors to come in here and buy a house," he said.

Augusta-Aiken's forecasted 0.9 percent loss puts it in a category with Georgia cities of Valdosta, Brunswick and Dalton.

Southeastern markets expected to see less impact from the housing crisis are Savannah, with a gross domestic product loss of 0.4 percent, and Chattanooga, Tenn., Athens and Albany, all with a loss of 0.5 percent.

Atlanta is expected to lose 0.6 percent, and Macon is expected to lose 0.8 percent of its economic growth.

A number of metro areas aren't projected to lose growth; they tend to be areas that didn't experience the housing boom, including Akron, Ohio; Baton Rouge, La.; and Charleston, W.Va.

The report also projects property values will decline by $1.2 trillion in 2008, partly because of the foreclosure crisis, with drops in home prices across the U.S. averaging 7 percent. The loss of property, sales and real estate transfer taxes is expected to hurt local and state governments, forcing them to raise taxes or cut services to balance their budgets.

Wire reports were used in this story.