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shows that nationally, property values dropped 9 percent during the last four years. But alone among the swing states, Iowa actually posted a tiny bit of appreciation since the Obama election: Values are up 1 percent. Experts see hardship coming from the ongoing drought, but for now the housing industry is looking far stronger than the rest of the battleground states.

"We're not seeing a lot of problems with appraisals," said Ken Clark, a Coldwell Banker broker and president of the Des Moines Association of Realtors. "We have a good market. We don't have a great market, but we have a good market."

Far on the other end of the battleground spectrum sit Nevada and Florida, two swing states still suffering the consequences of burst housing bubbles, and whose economies are trailing the national recovery in most categories.

Florida's property values have dropped 16 percent in the last four years, a mere slump compared to Nevada's 33 percent plunge. Florida still suffers from a 12 percent foreclosure rate, more than double Nevada's.

The two states haven't come close to erasing the damage of the recession in terms of economic output. Florida's GDP is down 4 percent compared to 2008, while Nevada's is down 6 percent. No other swing state comes close to such a weak overall performance during Obama's first term.

Job News USA, a company based in Louisville that runs job fairs across the country, recently saw record attendance at a hiring fair near Fort Lauderdale. About 3,200 people crammed into the Signature Grand's banquet hall last month to interview for about 600 openings. "A lot more people are getting desperate in their job search," said Tiffany Price, general sales manager for the South Florida area. "The people five years ago who would turn their noses up at job fairs now are coming out."

Obama leads Romney by an average of 3.5 percent in the national polls, according to a daily summary by Real Clear Politics, and is ahead of Romney in 12 of the 14 swing states analyzed by the Herald. Romney only leads Obama in Missouri and North Carolina, two swing states with economies that are mostly underperforming the others. Still, Obama is five points ahead in Nevada, easily home to the worst performing swing-state economy.

Wisconsin finished near the bottom of the list of swing states in the Herald's economic scoring, but Obama leads there by five points. Analysts expect the Badger State to get more competitive now that Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is on the Republican ticket. The economics offer a mixed bag for both campaigns.

Wisconsin's 7 percent unemployment rate is comfortably below the national average, but it has seen some of the weakest job growth among the swing states in the last four years. Payroll employment is down 4.5 percent since November 2008, compared to a 1.4 percent national slide. Property values have dropped 9 percent since Election Day four years ago.

"The economy is struggling really hard," said Steve Lewis, owner of Lewis Construction in Schofield, Wis. "I see empty retail buildings still for lease. They were built in back in '06 or '07. And they still haven't been leased. Not to one tenant. It's just not coming back very strong."

Still, Lewis' commercial business has been having a strong year thanks to its contracts in the energy field. Lewis Construction managed to land