Home prices are falling in some US cities, home sellers are losing hope, and economic experts fear a looming recession.
But a silver lining to the housing cooldown has emerged: homebuyers have more properties to choose from in many cities across the country.
It's not because builders have constructed a slew of new homes or that more owners are listing their properties for sale. Instead, it comes down to still-high home prices and higher mortgage rates, which have put a damper on home sales.
With the median listing price of a home in the US at $415,000 and rates in the 6% range, fewer Americans can afford to buy a property at all — and that means they're lingering on the market longer. More inventory means that homebuyers face less competition and fewer bidding wars.
Realtor.com calculated the US cities where there are significantly more homes on the market than last year. In popular pandemic boomtowns like Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona, and Nashville, Tennessee — which witnessed dramatic home-price increases over the last three years — buyers now have more options than they did in 2022.
A word of warning: just because inventory has increased in these areas doesn't necessarily mean they are any more affordable. Homes on the market are still, for the most part, more expensive than they were even months ago. Remember to consider what best suits your personal finances.
Keep reading to see where homebuyers have more options than last year.