As the real estate market bounces back in many parts of the country, sellers have the upper hand.
However, according to a recent report from online real estate portal Zillow, there are some markets
where buyers still have a clear advantage.
Philadelphia, Chicago and Cleveland take the top three spots for strong buyers’ markets in the United
States. In these cities, there’s high inventory of properties available. Properties here also tend to stay on
the market longer, meaning sellers are more willing to make price cuts and buyers don’t have to move
as fast.
If you’re looking to live where the rest of the world vacations, you’re in luck. Three Florida markets
made the list: Miami-Fort Lauderdale at number 4, Tampa at number 7 and Orlando at number 8.
Rounding out the rest of the top ten were Providence, Detroit, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. According to
Zillow, homes in these ten markets sell for an average of 4% less than the list price. In a seller’s market,
the buyer typically does not get a discount of any more than 1% on the list price.
Around the country, inventories are tight—a factor that helped boost home prices by about 4.5% from
January of 2014 to January 2015. That’s according to the S&P Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price
Index.
Experts with Zillow say the top buyers’ markets generally experienced a slowdown in growth without
the tech and energy booms seen in other parts of the country.
Here’s the full top 10 list of buyers’ markets from Zillow:
- Philadelphia
- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale
- Providence
- Detroit
- Tampa
- Cincinnati
- Pittsburgh
- Orlando
