Catherine Rusoff
Potential homebuyers looking for less competition and more selection may want to consider moving to the South, according to a housing market heat index from Zillow Real Estate Marketplace.
That’s because a construction boom in Texas and Florida has stabilized home prices and eased competition in those regions, according to Zillow’s new index. show. If fewer homes go pending quickly, more listings experience price cuts, or fewer buyers click on a listing, the index will be biased toward buyers.
In most major U.S. cities, buyers this year face few choices compared to the number of homes for sale before the pandemic, however, inventory in the Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio has actually increased. In Florida, the cities of Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville “have among the smallest deficits,” according to Zillow.
The Sunshine and Lone Star states were the only two in the country last year where applications for building permits for new single-family homes exceeded 125,000, according to U.S. Census data. Building permit applications in Florida jumped to 125,773 in 2023, up from just 99,831 in 2019. In Texas, the number of permits in 2023 was 149,860, up from 129,094 in 2019.
These construction numbers are no fluke, Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, told CBS MoneyWatch.
“What stands out in Texas and Florida is strong population growth and strong job growth,” he said. “This, combined with relatively lower regulatory burdens on land development and construction, means outsized gains for home construction in these states.”
No matter the state, buying a home has been a difficult proposition for many Americans as mortgage rates and home prices remain high. The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed home loan is 7%, according to for Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, the average U.S. home sale price hit a record $383,725 in April, according to Redfin.
“Today, potential buyers in most markets are experiencing less intense competition than in recent spring shopping seasons,” Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, said in a statement. “However, the pool of homes for sale remains remarkably low. This means the country remains a seller’s market despite high mortgage rates.”
Using listings-based metrics, Zillow researchers examined the 50 largest U.S. metro areas to determine where homes are selling the fastest, where price cuts are happening the most, where housing inventory is growing the most, and where home values houses are going up. The resulting index reveals which cities have the most buyer-friendly markets – less frenetic competition, more robust and affordable inventories – and which are more seller-friendly. In seller-friendly regions, homes sell quickly, with few price cuts and fewer options to choose from.
While only the top four are considered buyer’s markets, here are the 10 most buyer-friendly markets, according to Zillow, along with the average home values in each region:
- New Orleans, $242,593
- Miami, $489,836
- Tampa, Florida, $381,137
- Jacksonville, Florida, $359,942
- Memphis, Tennessee, $241,995
- Orlando, Florida, $397,716
- San Antonio, Texas, $290,355
- Austin, Texas, $468,707
- Houston, $311,004
- Atlanta, $386,193
The top 10 most seller-friendly markets, according to Zillow, along with average home values in each region:
- Buffalo, New York, $258,964
- San José, California, $1,642,546
- San Francisco, $1,198,046
- Hartford, Connecticut, $357,099
- Boston, $698,003
- Seattle, $755,037
- Milwaukee, $346,140
- Providence, Rhode Island, $478,431
- Minneapolis, $374,434
- New York, $658,935
