The year 2020 was, in many ways, a homebuyer’s dream. Mortgage rates hit all-time lows of below 3%, which triggered two phenomena. First, mortgage applications skyrocketed as early as March, as buyers scrambled to lock in lower rates. However, at the same time, this surge in demand drove home prices higher, making the market attractive to sellers.
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Unfortunately, all of this occurred during a global pandemic, which made the housing recovery uneven. In some markets, prices shot higher, making it easy for sellers to unload their homes. However, other markets suffered greatly, due to a combination of business closures, population flight, evictions and/or high levels of unemployment.
To help locate housing markets that may be in distress, GOBankingRates analyzed the 95 largest metropolitan housing markets according to Zillow’s Housing Data and found the 20 hardest places to sell a home. Primary factors considered were the difference between list and sale prices, average price cut and average number of days on Zillow.
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The resulting list of 20 cities is ranked in reverse order, with the most difficult city in which to sell a home listed last. Depending on your point of view, these cities could represent opportunities for buyers, as sellers that have a tough time getting their list price are likely to drop it. However, if sellers keep dropping their prices in a market, it can start a downward spiral, meaning your home price could fall below what you paid for it. Talking with a good local agent is a good place to start if you’re looking to buy and want to get the temperature of a certain area.
Here are the cities in which it’s hardest to sell a home.
Last updated: Oct. 26, 2021
