Boston area home values increased $23.3 billion this year, compared to a $53.4 billion loss last year, making the gain the largest nationwide.

According to online mortgage tracker Zillow, homes in Providence, R.I., ranked second on the list, with a gain of $12.4 billion this year.

Zillow found 48 of the 154 markets tracked showed gains in home value this year. Nationwide, home values dropped $489 billion during the first 11 months of 2009, significantly less than the $3.6 trillion lost during 2008.

"Home values stabilized significantly during the second half of 2009, with the total dollar value of U.S. homes increasing since June," said Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. "Most housing markets across the country had a good summer, spurred largely by the government’s tax credits for homebuyers combined with very low mortgage rates. Unfortunately, we believe that demand will come under downward pressure as mortgage rates creep back up after the first quarter and that housing supply will experience upward pressure as the volume of foreclosures continues to remain high. Both these factors will challenge the recent stabilization of home prices."

The biggest home value losses nationwide, in terms of total dollars lost this year, were in areas surrounding Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, down $60.8 billion, $49.6 billion and $49 billion, respectively.