Homebuyers: here’s where you’ll find the best deals in 2019

Miami’s No. 1

Considering a home purchase in 2019? Then head to Miami. According to a new forecast, the Florida city will likely offer the most deals to homebuyers in the new year.

Miami, Houston, Chicago top the list

According to the Knock Deals Forecast, Miami will offer the most deals to 2019 homebuyers. Nearly 90 percent of all on-market properties are predicted to sell below listing price during Q1. In 2018, 85 percent of listings sold under list price.

On average, Miami buyers can expect to save about 7 percent.

Houston homebuyers will also see deals come Q1, according to the forecast. Over 84 percent of homes are expected to go for less than listing price, with an average savings of 4.8 percent.

Chicago is No. 3 for predicted deals, with 83.5 percent of homes forecasted to sell for under list price. Buyers in the Windy City can expect to save just over 5 percent.

Other cities with a high share of predicted deals include Jacksonville and Tampa, Florida; New Orleans; Hartford, Connecticut; St. Louis, Missouri; Pittsburgh; and Cincinnati.

Homebuying deals nationwide

Nationwide, over 60 percent of homes sold under the list price this year, with more than half selling 2 percent below or more.

Most of these deals were in the South. Four Florida cities, along with Houston and New Orleans, all offered some of the nation’s highest shares of under-list price sales. Chicago; Hartford, Connecticut; Pittsburgh; and New York also made the top 10.

Overall, November saw the most deals of the year, with 56 percent of listings going for 2 percent below listing price or more.

Home prices predicted to keep dropping; many markets still overvalued

According to Paul Habibi, Knock’s economic advisor and a lecturer at UCLA, the number of below-list price deals shows home prices have been inflated.

“While there’s no denying that home prices have been steadily on the rise, list prices are clearly increasing above realistic levels, corroborated by the study’s findings that over 60% of homes sold well below their original list prices in 2018,” Habibi said.

Home prices grow at slowest rate in nearly 2 years

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