With limited inventory and mortgage rates hovering above 7%, prospective homebuyers proceed to face a bleak landscape in much of the country. Latest data from real estate site Zillow, though, shows greater than a dozen shiny spots. Its most up-to-date market report highlights 13 metropolitan areas where the scales are tipped in buyers’ favor.
Nationwide, Zillow characterizes the housing market as neutral, with neither buyers nor sellers holding a large advantage as of October (probably the most recent month for which data is on the market). But that average belies sometimes sharp differences that may emerge on the local level.
Zillow’s evaluation cites seasonal aspects, reminiscent of the annual slowdown that tends to occur within the housing market as winter comes, in addition to non-seasonal market influences, like a rise in recent home construction.
Pricier mortgages even have pushed some buyers back onto the sidelines. Falling home prices have been offset by mortgage rates that rose in October. Zillow says the mortgage payment on a typical home ticked up nearly 3% on a monthly basis; it’s now $1,802.
Buyers are getting more leverage in cities where builders have responded to the inventory crunch — and the promise of upper profits — most aggressively.
A handful of cities, primarily within the Southeast, have offered buyers increased negotiating leverage in recent months as developers have added inventory. Zillow highlights Latest Orleans, in addition to a lot of cities in each Florida and Texas, as locations where the provision of more recent homes has helped ease conditions for buyers. More broadly, the seasonal winter-weather effect that may chill home sales in much of the U.S. tends to affect Southern markets less.
Zillow says this regional area of opportunity for buyers is spreading. Particularly, Pittsburgh and Louisville, Kentucky — two cities decidedly outside the Sunbelt — were added to Zillow’s list of buyer’s markets in October. Pittsburgh is the northernmost city in Zillow’s rating, taking that crown from Indianapolis, which joined the list of buyers’ markets in September.
13 best cities for homebuyers now
Zillow’s rankings are based on recent housing market activity, home price appreciation and inventory fluctuations. All 13 are among the many top 20 markets where inventory has bounced back most robustly because the pandemic.
Based on these metrics, Zillow has determined that the next 13 cities have a buyer’s market:
- Latest Orleans, Louisiana
- Miami, Florida
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Tampa, Florida
- Austin, Texas
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Orlando, Florida
- San Antonio, Texas
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Nashville, Tennessee
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