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Top 10 States Where Big Business is Inflating the Real Estate Market

It’s a well-known fact—now is not a good time to be a first-time home buyer. With record inflation worldwide and U.S. consumer prices rising at the fastest rate in decades, spending habits are changing. It’s hard enough to save enough money for a down payment on a house. It’s nearly impossible in today’s housing market. 

One major factor contributing to the impractical rates is iBuying. iBuyers are institutional house flippers—companies that use algorithms to estimate a home’s value and then buy it directly for cash. An analysis showed that some of the biggest iBuyers—Zillow, Opendoor Technologies, and Offerpad Solutions—are selling thousands of homes to landlords backed by large corporations, not families looking for a home. 

Big businesses are crowding out regular home buyers. Not only are they able and willing to pay more than the average home buyer, they then flip the house to sell for a profit, therefore driving up the housing market. Investors and corporations are turning many houses into rental properties. It’s a brutal market out there. Some regions are being affected much more than others. Here are the top ten states where big business is inflating the real estate market.

Tennessee

Tennessee

Home prices are up 18% in Tennessee. The median sale price of a home is $395,600. Metros such as Harriman, Signal Mountain, and Seymour all have the fastest growing sales price, with Harriman being 64.9%!

46.6% of homes sold above the listing price as of last month. Christiana, Oakland, and Smyrna have the most competitive market, with Murfreesboro and Spring Hill close behind. Not a buyer’s market in the least—unless you're a corporation looking to invest in the housing market. 

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Georgia

Georgia

Sales to investors are about 40% in metro Atlanta. At this rate, a hopeful homeowner would need a $139,831 salary to meet the market’s demands. The median sales price for Georgia homes rocketed 22% up to $355,000 in just a year.

Buckhead, Georgia reported a median home value of $669,668. Mortgage rates are near 6%. Georgia’s first-time home buyers are in a competitive market and should not hold their breaths. They’re in for at least a few more difficult months.

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Oregon

Oregon

The median home price in Oregon is $377,500. The average home sells for about 4% above the list price. Those numbers aren't as scary as what we've been seeing. While the market is not overwhelmingly competitive, certain metro areas are feeling the pressure.

iBuyers are active in Portland, Oregon; big rental companies are less so. So while homes are being bought up, Oregon is not as affected as other states on this list at the moment. So while Oregon seems like a better place to buy, we recommend avoiding these ten states if you are looking to buy your first home. Good luck!

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Florida

Florida

Although Florida had more new listings and increased median home prices, higher mortgage rates and inflation continue to impact sales. The median sales price for single-family existing homes in June was $420,000, up 19.7% from last year.

The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.52% in June, which is much higher than the 2.98% average a year before. It's hard to imagine it has changed that much in a single year. Interest rates are nothing short of brutal in Florida!

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South Carolina

South Carolina

Home prices statewide were up 18.6% in June. At the same time, the number of homes sold dropped 15% and the number of homes for sale fell 8.2%. This makes for a very expensive, competitive market. Not something a first-time home buyer would like to see—no big deal for a corporation with money to spend. 

Surfside Beach, Mount Pleasant, and Five Forks are the top three metros with the fastest growing sales price, 54.8%, 40.1%, and 39.4%, respectively. Oak Grove is the most competitive city. Good luck being a growing family in any of those cities!

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North Carolina

North Carolina

Home prices statewide are up 14.5% versus last year. The median sale price of a home is $365,000.  57.4% of homes sold were above the list price. Kings Mountain, Lake Lure, and Boiling Springs all claim the title of the fastest growing sales prices.

Beware if you’re looking for your first home in North Carolina. Maybe avoid the most competitive cities such as Aberdeen, Cameron, and Half Moon. Murraysville and Pinehurst are also difficult to negotiate. As a matter of fact, better to just find a more affordable state in general!

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Arizona

Arizona
Metro Phoenix is a key market for iBuyers and rental landlords. The median price for home sales in the Phoenix area is $475,000. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is around 6% versus 3% just a year ago. That's a bit of a leap.

Experts are predicting some sort of balance around August or September. So far, the shift toward market balance has not caused prices to drop. At this point, it depends on which direction interest rates go. Honestly, things aren't looking too optimistic.

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Wyoming

Wyoming

In Wyoming, the average home value stands at $321,497, and the median sale price is $417,200. A 30-year fixed mortgage rate is sitting at 5.47%. For one of the least densely populated states in the U.S., these numbers would make you think otherwise!

Let’s try a scenario: you have $300,000 to spend on a home. In Cheyenne, that gets you 1,676 sq ft. In Casper, you get 2,027 sq ft. In Gillette and Rock Springs, you still get less than 2,500 sq ft. Again, for the state we're talking about, you would think you would be able to get a little more bang for your buck!

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Texas

Texas

Although housing inventories slowly started to build up, housing prices didn’t reflect the supply shift. The median home price hit a record high every month starting in January 2021. The median price rose to $354,000 this month, over 25% since last year.

Data suggests buying a new home may be more affordable than hunting for an existing one. Either way, housing is still out of reach for many potential homebuyers. Median prices for all the major metros—Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth—have advanced at a double-digit rate.

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California

California

Home sales and prices fell in June. Single-family home prices declined by $36,280 in June. The average home still sells for $863,790, which is not an attractive price for a first-time home buyer. Interest rates continue to rise.

The Los Angeles Metro area saw a slight drop of $5,000 on average in the sale of a single-family houses. The San Francisco Bay area saw prices actually fall 7%. Still, prices remain high and buyers are not so easy to find at the inflated price levels.

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