(NEXSTAR) – Fall brought a glimmer of hope for home shoppers this year, as the number of buyer’s markets in major U.S. cities continues to grow as mortgage rates retreat slightly, according to Zillow.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, which was above 7% at the start of the year, slipped below 6.3% in October, which Zillow says contributed to a 5% annual jump in new listings and pending sales.
Meantime, the median home price increased by 2.9% year-over-year in Oct., the slowest rate since 2012, according to Redfin.
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While still high, home prices fell enough this fall to add multiple major U.S. cities to Zillow’s list of buyer’s markets, or places where there are more homes listed than there are people looking to buy.
List of buyers’ markets grows
Zillow’s October list has nine new markets year over year, with an additional three since Sept. alone (Cincinnati, Birmingham and Milwaukee). See the top 19 major markets for home buyers below, in order of most to least favorable:
- Miami, FL
- Indianapolis, IN
- Milwaukee, WI
- Pittsburgh, PA
- New Orleans, LA
- Louisville, KY
- Jacksonville, FL
- Austin, TX
- Memphis, TN
- Detroit, MI
- Nashville, TN
- Tampa, FL
- Seattle, WA
- Atlanta, GA
- Houston, TX
- Charlotte, NC
- San Antonio, TX
- Birmingham, AL
- Cincinnati, OH
Even in a so-called buyer’s market, prices are still prohibitively expensive for many people, especially first-time shoppers…