The housing market has done surprising things over the pandemic. When the economy took an especially tough hit, in 2020, the housing market did not follow suit. Mortgage rates hit all-time lows of below 3%, and buyers scrambled to lock in lower rates. This surge in demand drove home prices higher, making the market attractive to sellers.
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This hot housing market looked like it might never slow in 2022, either, but that is swiftly changing. According to Time, in June the housing market experienced the largest slowdown in a given month since the early 1970s. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that home sales were down by 5.9% in July, which is six months in a row of price sales decline, and 20.2% decrease from a year prior.
To help locate housing markets that may be in distress, GOBankingRates analyzed the 190 largest metropolitan housing markets according to Zillow’s Housing Data and found the 25 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.
The resulting list of 25 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.
