The crisis' potential impact was revealed in a new report revising the total property value lost from foreclosures to $1.46 trillion in 363 of the country's largest cities by the end of the year, up from a November estimate of $1.2 trillion. The number of homes in foreclosure is also expected to rise 2.2 million, according to the study prepared for the conference by market and economic research group Global Insight.

PLUNGING VALUES

Home values in Miami-Dade and Broward counties could fall by an average of $47,571 per home, for a total decline in value of more than $60 million, the report said. David Iaia, a principal with Global Insight, told mayors the nation's cities would remain on unstable ground until at least mid-2009 when the last major wave of adjustable-rate subprime loans should have reset.

Meanwhile, the mayors will be called on to help delinquent borrowers get foreclosure counseling, maintain vacant properties and use the bully pulpit to push for regulatory change in Congress.

Brian Montgomery, a housing commissioner for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, urged mayors to support the passage of legislation modernizing the Federal Housing Administration that would help expand affordable loans to new homeowners and help at-risk borrowers refinance. Other priorities were discussed, including finding additional funding sources for local counseling agencies and airing public service announcements about foreclosure alternatives.

VACANT HOMES

Central also to the 90-minute discussion were strategies for dealing with a growing number of vacant homes. Robert Klein, president and chief executive of Safeguard Properties, which manages real estate owned by lenders, said 22 percent of the 600,000 foreclosures his company inspected last month were unoccupied, placing them at risk of vandalism and other problems that could make them more difficult to sell.

They can also cause problem for cities concerned that blight will affect neighboring property values and drain municipal resources.

To address the problem in Florida, Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan said he was drafting legislation to require lenders to register properties with the state. ''The biggest opponent to it is the lenders,'' Kaplan said.

Earlier this month, Coral Springs became one of the first cities in South Florida to pass a law requiring registration of vacant foreclosures along with a fee, stiff fines, and an expedited code enforcement mechanism for dealing with derelict properties. Kaplan said a national registry was needed instead.

''Right now, each community is coming up with its own regulation and guidelines and there is no way a mortgage service company can deal with 500 different ordinances,'' Klein said.