Metro Phoenix ranks No. 3 among most cooled down housing markets
New home buyers are becoming more cautious. Rising mortgage rates and declining home sales have signaled the end of a hot housing market that has plagued buyers for over a year. According to the Census Bureau, home sales are down almost 18% since January 2022. However, some areas have cooled more than others. So, which housing markets have cooled down the most?
To uncover where housing markets are cooling off most, SmartAsset analyzed the 100 largest metro areas, 92 of which had complete data. We compared places across a total of eight metrics, split into two categories: price reduction and decreased demand. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, read the Data and Methodology section below. But the analysis showed Metro Phoenix ranks No. 3 among the most cooled down housing markets.
Key Findings
California metro areas are cooling off the most. Three California metro areas rank in the top 10 for our study. In these areas, homes are staying on the market longer relative to a year ago – nearly double the amount of time. Moreover, all three areas have seen over a 33% decrease in the number of houses sold monthly from August 2021 to August 2022.
The share of listings with price cuts is up 10% from a year ago. Nationally, about 16% of home listings had a price cut in August 2021. Comparatively, that figure is now almost 26%.
Homes are on the market for less than 10 days in 36 metro areas. Last year, 67 metro areas fell into that category. Nationally, the average time on the market for a home listing currently stands at 13 days.
Top 10 Housing Markets That Are Cooling Off Most
We considered eight metrics across two categories, scored on a scale of 0 to 100 (higher scores indicate a cooler market). To see overall rank and category scores, hover over each city.Image is a map by SmartAsset titled “Top 10 Housing Markets That Are Cooling Off Most.”
1. Boise, ID
The housing market in Boise, Idaho is cooling off the most relative to all other metro areas in our study. Boise has the sixth-lowest ratio of number of sold houses to new listings (0.49), meaning that almost twice as many houses are being listed relative to ones that are sold. The median days a house sits on the market is 20, and this figure is almost 186% higher than one year previously.
2. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX
The fourth-largest metro area in Texas has experienced a chill in its housing market with the fourth-largest decrease in demand and the 13th-largest price reductions. Across specific metrics, Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown has the second-highest median days on the market for home lists (27 days) and the fourth-worst ratio of houses sold to new listings (0.49).
3. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Arizona ranks No. 3 overall. The metro area has the fifth-highest percentage of house listings with a price cut (39.61%), which 25% point higher than a year ago. Additionally, the number of houses sold in a month has declined by more than 41% between August 2021 and August 2022.
Methodology for most cooled down housing markets
To uncover which housing markets are cooling off most, SmartAsset compared data for the 100 largest metro areas, 92 of which had complete data. We compared these areas across two categories and a total of eight metrics:
Price Reduction
Percentage of listings with a price cut
One-year change in percentage of listing with a price cut
Average price cute relative to aveage home value
One-year change in average price cuts
Decreased Demand
Ratio of houses sold to new listings
One-year change in number of houses sold
Median days on the market
One-year change in median days on the market
Data for all metrics comes from Zillow and is for August 2021 and August 2022.
We ranked each metro area in every metric and found an average ranking and score for each category. We then found a final score, averaging the two category scores. The metro area with the highest cumulative score ranked at the top of our list.
Used with Permission
Categories
