Best US Cities for Real Estate Deals
Because many U.S. real estate markets continue to be somewhat sluggish, sellers might not see the bright side, but buyers looking for a great deal should check out these locations for the best bang for their buck. Real estate Website Zillow identified several upper Mid-West and Southeast communities from among 137 metropolitan areas where the combination of available listings that had lowered their prices and the sales of foreclosures, means bargain hunters could find a prize. Data used came from March 2012 sources.
Florida Deals
In the Southeast, the best finds were in Sarasota and Punta Gorda, Florida. The Sarasota market, comprising North Port Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice, has seen the percentage of its real estate inventory with that cut its prices in crease by more than five percent over last year. The median price cut is at 6.8 while the number of listings slashing their prices rose to 34.2 percent. At the same time, buying property in the Punta Gorda region is an even better deal, since its listings with price cuts is 36.4 percent, while the averaging drop in price is 7.6 percent.
Upper Midwest
Two Illinois regions made the list. Rockford had nearly forty percent of its listings (39.5 percent) cutting their prices. This is an increase over last year of 5.6 percent. The price cuts averaged eight percent. The numbers speak to some drawbacks, however, since the unemployment rate is much higher than the national average, at 11.7 percent, which contributed to the price adjustments.
The country’s third largest city, Chicago, showed even steeper price cuts. It median price cut sits at 7.2 percent, while the number of listing that cut asking prices is a whopping 38.1 percent. The ratio of sales to list prices is 0.947 percent.
More Great Lakes
Further East in the Great Lakes region, Cleveland, Ohio came in third place in the top five cities with price cuts similar to those in Chicago, at 7.3 percent. Driving this number is a 26 percent rate of among foreclosed properties that resold. The number of listings reducing asking prices sat at 35.5 percent. The real estate market region for Cleveland, situated on Lake Erie in the northeast part of Ohio, includes several cities as well as Cleveland proper: Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, Lakewood, Lorain, Mentor and Parma.
While these might seem like bargains, however, buyers should proceed cautiously. Before jumping into any of these markets, would-be purchasers should calculate all other economic factors, such as the job loss or growth rate and the relative cost of living in non-housing areas like utilities and groceries, into their decision.
