With Halloween just around the corner, last year’s housing market was scary for some house hunters.
While the ghost holiday celebrates haunted houses and other spooky things, the holiday may also spark frightening thoughts about the difficulties of achieving the American dream. But what aspects of homeownership scare homebuyers the most, and which cities are the scariest?
A new study from Point2Homes reveals that with 30-year fixed rate mortgages at their highest levels in decades, home prices have risen and are expected to continue to rise in 2024. Current for-sale inventory represents less than one of this year’s supply values, meaning This year has been difficult for many homebuyers.
Point2 set out to identify the scariest housing markets, analyzing the nation’s 200 largest markets across four metrics: median price, year-over-year difference in home prices, year-over-year difference in for-sale inventory, and least days on market.
Top 10 Scariest Markets for Home Buyers of 2023
- Sunnyvale, California
- Escondido, California
- San Jose, California
- Chula Vista, California
- Fremont, California
- Oceanside, California
- Bellevue, Washington
- Corona, California
- San Diego
- Irvine, California
From rising home prices and scarcity of inventory to regretting not having bought a home yet and homes falling through their fingers, here are the top tips on the horrific horrors that await those seeking to secure the home of their dreams amid fears of a housing market collapse:
- Buying a home is tough everywhere, but data suggests that some cities accumulated the bulk of buyer anxiety last year; Nine of the ten scariest markets are in California, led not by Los Angeles or San Francisco, but by Sunnyvale and Escondido.
- Prices rose the most in markets known to be among the most affordable among the 200 largest markets: Compared to 2022, homebuyers in Louisville, Kentucky, Tallahassee, Florida, and Kansas City, Kansas, are dealing with home prices up more than 20%. higher.
- Huge prices are a reality not only in ultra-affluent markets — like Manhattan or San Jose, California — but also in emerging West Coast centers, like Sunnyvale ($1.7 million), Bellevue, Washington ($1.4 million), and Glendale, California ($1.3 million). ). $1 million), and Torrance, California ($1.1 million).
- For-sale inventory is nearly at historic lows: Home inventory in 28 of the 200 largest U.S. markets has fallen in half since 2022, with Fremont and Sunnyvale in California now selling nearly 60% fewer homes than a year ago.
- Extremely high demand is keeping homebuyers on their toes: Homes are going off the market in just 10 days or less in 19 large cities; In Grand Rapids, MI and Lakewood, CO, active listings last less than a week.
Move over Los Angeles and San Francisco; It’s Sunnyvale and Escondido’s turn. It’s no secret that California is expensive. So much so, that nine of the ten scariest cities to buy a home in are all located in the Golden State.
Meanwhile, potential owners in Sunnyvale are caught in the middle of the Bermuda Housing Triangle: high home prices, low inventory, and listings dwindling quickly. For some time now, Sunnyvale has emerged as a luxury market, holding its own with its Silicon Valley sibling, San Jose.
Nearby where potential buyers are kept awake at night is Escondido, one of the most desirable locations in San Diego County. Higher prices aside, homebuyers now have about half the housing inventory to choose from compared to last year, while homes in these three cities are selling in just 12 days or less.
On the other end of the spectrum, southeastern cities like Jackson, MS, Birmingham, AL, and New Orleans keep homebuyers’ dark thoughts at bay. What makes house hunting easier in these and a few other Sun Belt housing markets are home prices that are below the national average of $420,000, year-over-year price declines, and, in many cases, a combination of For sale has been on the rise since 2022.
Shocking prices: $1.1 million+ in Bellevue, Washington, Manhattan, and most of California; Prices in Louisville, Kentucky, are up 25% year over year
The primary factor in achieving homeownership that keeps home hunters up at night is fluctuating home prices. With price tags well above $1.1 million, eight of the 10 most expensive markets for homebuyers are in California.
Living in Sunnyvale, one of the country’s most competitive housing markets, comes with a median price tag of more than $1,740,000, after prices rose 11% since 2022. The situation is similar in nearby Fremont, where, despite optimism, a 6% With a year-over-year decline, the median price is closer to $1,430,000. California home seekers are having to deal with a combination of skyrocketing prices, homes going off the market, and shrinking inventory, making homeownership more difficult.
To read the full report, including more data, charts and methodology, click here.
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