Best cities to buy a home in 2012
Zillow analyzed income and home-price data to come up with a list of cities where now is a good time to buy. We've also got a lot of cities where it's still a buyers market.
This year's mixed real-estate statistics serve to remind us that, yes, all real estate is local.
Former basket-case cities such as Phoenix and Miami are rising from the ashes, while cities such as Atlanta that initially didn't suffer precipitous drops in property values are continuing to see home prices drop.
Zillow looked at several key factors and came up with a list of the places to buy a home in 2012, plus a list of the cities where you can afford to bargain.
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To create its list, the real-estate portal looked at housing prices compared with local incomes, home value trends, unemployment rates and whether buying makes more sense than renting.
The top city in Zillow's Best Places to Buy in 2012 was Grand Rapids, Mich., where home values have risen 4.8% since last spring and unemployment has fallen. The median home value in Grand Rapids is $108,000, making homes affordable on the city's median income.
The next two cities were Phoenix, where Zillow predicts home values will rise 6.5% this year, and Pittsburgh. "Phoenix is probably the best example of a hard-hit market that is showing signs of recovery," says Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist.
The other cities identified as the best places to buy in 2012 were:
- Oklahoma City
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Dallas
- Memphis, Tenn
- Dayton, Ohio
To identify the cities where buyers have the upper hand, Zillow looked at listings with price cuts, median price cuts, foreclosure resales and the difference between list price and sale price.
These are the cities where you are likely to benefit from negotiating on price, but remember that these are averages and that any individual home could be well-priced at listing. Zillow's Best Places to Bargain for a Home are:
- Rockford, Ill.
- Punta Gorda, Fla.
- Cleveland
- Chicago
- Sarasota, Fla.
- New Haven, Conn.
- Philadelphia
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Since the assassination of President Kennedy,
International banksters control the politicians, the dumb downed American sheeple squabble about issues not related to, illegals taking all jobs that used to be done by American middle Class. workers. The allowance for everything that used to be manufactured right here in places like Detroit, are now made in China. While voters are choosing between Obama and Romney, who are owned by the banksters, and will do nothing to change the inevitable dismantling of what is left of the American Middle Class.
Just so you know, there isn't going to be a recovery, things are only going to get worse, unless we try to educate each other by word of mouth, for the media is owned by the same banksters, and they will not recognize any legitimate person who truly advocates a change. Do you realize that these international banks are destroying America?
Because of low interest rates, homes in desirable locations continue to sell well. If you purchased a home during the "bubble," your best time to have done so would have been in the Fall of year 2004--that was the approximate date immediately before prices began heading into unrealistic and uncharted territory.
I bought my current home at the right moment. My home's value has flexed a bit, but overall, has remained settled at about what I payed for it.
I'm not bragging. I was just lucky.
@ Greg,
The black gangs... Really?!!! Grow up and find Jesus. I could easily say the uneducated, white, trailer trash folks with the double wide on 10 acres and rebel flag in their front yard near my home are bringing my property value down. However, that's not a neighborly/patriotic outlook. Greg, what are you doing to positively affect the "black gang" situation? If you're blaming the politicians, run for office or just vote and shut-up. The fact that you end up on the subject of guns from a housing market article shows your level of thinking.
About Teresa Mears
Teresa Mears is a veteran journalist who has been interested in houses since her father took her to tax auctions to carry the cash at age 10. A former editor of The Miami Herald's Home & Design section, she lives in South Florida where, in addition to writing about real estate, she publishes Miami on the Cheap to help her neighbors adjust to the loss of 60% of their property value.
msn real estate is social
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