Best cities for real estate deals

By Colleen Kane, CNBC.com

May 24, 2012

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When it’s not a seller’s market, it could be a bright side for buyers. So where are the markets with the most bargains for home buyers on a budget?
To find out, the data team at the real estate Web site Zillow looked at several factors, including the percentage of listings with price cuts, the median amount of those price cuts, the sale-to-list price ratio (or how much lower the sale price was from the last list price), and at foreclosure resales in places where foreclosure data was available (all data was the most recent available, from March 2012).
See slideshow: Best Cities for Real Estate Deals
All told, the team considered 137 metropolitan areas. What follows are the five areas that had the best numbers across those criteria. Of course, factors contributing to the buyers’ markets can include higher-than-average unemployment rates for the area and other economic woes. As with all real estate purchases, buyers in these metro areas will have many factors to consider.
5. Sarasota, Fla.
Median price cut: 6.8%
Listings with price cut: 34.2%

No. 5: Sarasota, Fla. Photo: Walter Bibikow | Getty Images

The metropolitan area of North Port Bradenton-Sarasota, midway down Florida’s Gulf Coast, is made up of the cities of North Port, Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice. The percentage of real estate listings with a price cut has increased by just over 5 percent from last year.

4. Chicago
Median price cut: 7.2%
Listings with price cut: 38.1%

No. 4: Chicago Photo: Google Maps

The metropolitan area of Chicago, the nation’s third-most populous city, had a median sale-to-list-price ratio of 0.947 percent.

3. Cleveland
Median price cut: 7.3%
Listings with price cut: 35.5%

No. 3: Cleveland Photo: Chris Gent | Flickr | Creative Commons

Cleveland is situated in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie. The Greater Cleveland area, including the cities of Parma, Lorain, Elyria, Lakewood, Euclid, Mentor and Cleveland Heights, showed a 26 percent rate of foreclosure resales.

2. Punta Gorda, Fla.
Median price cut: 7.6%
Listings with price cut: 36.4%

No. 2: Punta Gorda, Fla. Photo: Creative Commons

The Punta Gorda metropolitan area marks Florida’s third Gulf Coast appearance in the top 10. The percentage of real estate listings with a price cut has increased by nearly 8 percent over last year.

1. Rockford, Ill.
Median price cut: 8%
Listings with price cut: 39.5%

No. 1: Rockford, Ill. Photo: Jason Ippolito | Flickr | Creative Commons

The percentage of real estate listings with a price cut in northern Illinois’ Rockford metropolitan area has increased by 5.6 percent over last year. However, as with all of the cities on this list, there are drawbacks to living in areas where these real estate deals can be had: Rockford residents were coping with a higher-than-average 11.7 percent unemployment rate in March.

Click here to see more of the best cities for real estate deals.

source(http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/best-cities-for-real-estate-deals.html)