Cooling Housing Market Highlights Best Markets for Buyers, Sellers

San Jose, San Francisco and Seattle top Zillow ranking of sellers' markets; Providence, Cleveland, Philadelphia top buyers' list

- The U.S. Zillow Home Value Index rose to $175,600 in August, up 6.6 percent year-over-year, the slowest annual pace in the last 12 months.

- U.S. home values are expected to rise another 3.1 percent through August 2015.

- Inventory of all for-sale homes nationwide rose 20.6 percent year-over-year and 2.1 percent month-over-month in August.

News provided by

Zillow, Inc.

Sep 19, 2014, 08:00 ET

SEATTLE, Sept. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. home values rose more slowly in August than they have in a year, and the cooling market offered a clear view of local markets that favor either buyers or sellers.

The nation's hottest markets, on the West Coast, continued to favor sellers with quick sales and high asking prices. But some still-recovering markets remained a bargain for buyers as more homes went up for sale.

U.S. home values rose in August, up 0.1 percent from July and 6.6 percent from August 2013, to a Zillow^® Home Value Indexⁱ of $175,600, according to the August Zillow Real Estate Market Reportsⁱⁱ. The pace of home value appreciation is expected to slow to 3.1 percent through August 2015, according to the Zillow Home Value Forecast.

According to the latest Zillow analysisⁱⁱⁱ of buyers' and sellers' markets, sellers in the Bay Area, Seattle and Dallas have the most negotiating power, with final sale prices largely at or above asking. For those looking to buy a home, the Northeast and Midwest offer the most favorable conditions, as buyers are less likely to be faced with the fierce bidding wars seen across the West Coast and in larger cities across the country.

In this analysis, a sellers' market is not necessarily one where home values are rising, but rather one in which homes are on the market for a shorter time, price cuts occur less frequently and homes are sold at prices very close to (or greater than) their last listing price. In buyers' markets, homes for sale stay on the market longer, price cuts occur more frequently and homes are sold for less relative to their listing price.

Top 10 Sellers' Markets		Top 10 Buyers' Markets
1.	San Jose, CA	1.	Providence, RI
2.	San Francisco, CA	2.	Cleveland, OH
3.	Seattle, WA	3.	Philadelphia, PA
4.	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	4.	Milwaukee, WI
5.	Denver, CO	5.	Chicago, IL
6.	Riverside, CA	6.	Pittsburgh, PA
7.	Las Vegas, NV	7.	Tampa, FL
8.	Los Angeles, CA	8.	New York/Northern NJ
9.	Nashville, TN	9.	Cincinnati, OH
10.	Sacramento, CA	10.	Jacksonville, FL

"Real estate has always been local, but as we continue to put the housing recession further in the rearview mirror, the largely uniform performance of local markets is also fading," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. "We now have several different types of markets emerging, including markets that are still muddling along the bottom; markets that shot up immediately after the recession ended and are now cooling quickly; and markets that are still very hot. Each of these environments presents unique challenges and opportunities for buyers and sellers, and what works in one area won't necessarily work in another."

National home values have risen month-over-month for more than two years, though the pace of monthly home value appreciation has slowed as a result of increased for-sale inventory^iv entering the market. The number of homes listed for sale on Zillow in August was up 20.6 percent year-over-year and 2.1 percent month-over-month.

National rents rose in August from July, up 0.7 percent to a Zillow Rent Index (ZRI)^v of $1,328. Year-over-year, national rents were up 3.3 percent in August.

Metropolitan Area	August 2014 ZHVI	Year-Year % Change in ZHVI	August 2015 ZHVI Forecast	August 2014 ZRI	Year-Year % Change in ZRI	Year-Year % Change in For-Sale Inventory
United States	$175,600	6.6%	$180,970	$1,328	3.3%	20.6%
New York/Northern New Jersey	$378,200	5.2%	$384,506	$2,430	2.2%	25.8%
Los Angeles, CA	$532,600	9.9%	$562,665	$2,409	4.0%	31.2%
Chicago, IL	$185,800	6.9%	$188,941	$1,645	6.1%	20.9%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	$147,000	5.8%	$152,520	$1,407	4.5%	-5.2%
Philadelphia, PA	$199,100	3.6%	$201,558	$1,551	3.0%	11.0%
Houston, TX	$150,000	12.8%	$153,839	$1,463	6.0%	-15.7%
Washington, DC	$358,000	6.1%	$359,878	$2,083	0.2%	59.5%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL	$203,800	16.6%	$211,700	$1,769	5.5%	38.8%
Atlanta, GA	$150,700	15.5%	$161,641	$1,197	3.8%	25.6%
Boston, MA	$361,900	5.6%	$364,571	$2,116	6.2%	22.3%
San Francisco, CA	$686,200	9.1%	$703,847	$2,920	14.9%	19.3%
Detroit, MI	$113,900	15.4%	$121,077	$1,062	1.7%	30.3%
Riverside, CA	$280,400	16.2%	$309,272	$1,637	3.5%	41.4%
Phoenix, AZ	$195,100	2.6%	$204,812	$1,209	6.1%	29.1%
Seattle, WA	$334,500	8.3%	$354,313	$1,792	7.0%	25.5%
Minneapolis-St Paul, MN	$209,000	6.9%	$212,385	$1,515	3.3%	38.5%
San Diego, CA	$471,400	9.2%	$497,389	$2,242	4.2%	39.7%
St. Louis, MO	$130,000	2.4%	$134,131	$1,083	0.5%	15.2%
Tampa, FL	$143,400	11.5%	$148,306	$1,242	2.7%	20.5%
Baltimore, MD	$240,300	2.4%	$242,936	$1,704	1.0%	38.6%
Denver, CO	$263,300	9.1%	$266,217	$1,737	10.1%	-7.8%
Pittsburgh, PA	$124,700	8.4%	$130,716	$1,133	12.6%	3.5%
Portland, OR	$274,000	7.0%	$284,295	$1,511	5.3%	22.0%
Sacramento, CA	$319,700	8.3%	$331,850	$1,582	3.3%	41.6%
San Antonio, TX	$145,400	6.8%	$148,685	$1,276	4.0%	-3.4%
Orlando, FL	$163,300	11.5%	$167,920	$1,305	4.2%	54.9%
Cincinnati, OH	$136,400	5.4%	$139,651	$1,191	6.1%	2.3%
Cleveland, OH	$120,900	3.9%	$124,007	$1,147	3.9%	6.1%
Kansas City, MO	$136,900	4.9%	$139,718	$1,163	7.6%	-0.2%
Las Vegas, NV	$182,100	16.3%	$194,586	$1,180	1.5%	58.7%
San Jose, CA	$808,900	10.3%	$850,443	$3,101	16.2%	11.6%
Columbus, OH	$145,100	9.2%	$149,970	$1,248	4.8%	-6.6%
Charlotte, NC	$155,100	6.2%	$159,009	$1,207	5.6%	8.2%
Indianapolis, IN	$129,500	-0.2%	$133,712	$1,185	2.6%	9.1%
Austin, TX	$216,500	11.7%	$221,944	$1,614	7.2%	-7.6%

About Zillow:
Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) operates the largest home-related marketplaces on mobile and the Web, with a complementary portfolio of brands and products that help people find vital information about homes, and connect with the best local professionals. In addition, Zillow operates an industry-leading economics and analytics bureau led by Zillow's Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. Dr. Humphries and his team of economists and data analysts produce extensive housing data and research covering more than 450 markets at Zillow Real Estate Research. Zillow also sponsors the quarterly Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, which asks more than 100 leading economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists to predict the path of the Zillow Home Value Index over the next five years. Zillow also sponsors the bi-annual Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI) which measures consumer confidence in local housing markets, both currently and over time. The Zillow, Inc. portfolio includes Zillow.com®, Zillow Mobile, Zillow Mortgages, Zillow Rentals, Zillow Digs®, Postlets®, Diverse Solutions®, Agentfolio®, Mortech®, HotPads™, StreetEasy® and Retsly™. The company is headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow.com, Zillow, Zestimate, Postlets, Mortech, Diverse Solutions, StreetEasy, Agentfolio and Digs are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc. HotPads and Retsly are trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

ⁱ The Zillow Home Value Index is the median estimated home value for a given geographic area on a given day and includes the value of all single-family residences, condominiums and cooperatives, regardless of whether they sold within a given period. It is expressed in dollars, and seasonally adjusted.
ⁱⁱ The Zillow Real Estate Market Reports are a monthly overview of the national and local real estate markets. The reports are compiled by Zillow Real Estate Research. For more information, visit www.zillow.com/research/. The data in Zillow's Real Estate Market Reports are aggregated from public sources by a number of data providers for 928 metropolitan and micropolitan areas dating back to 1996. Mortgage and home loan data are typically recorded in each county and publicly available through a county recorder's office. All current monthly data at the national, state, metro, city, ZIP code and neighborhood level can be accessed at www.zillow.com/local-info/ and www.zillow.com/research/data.
ⁱⁱⁱ Zillow's Buyer/Seller Analysis ranked data on actual sales prices compared to asking prices, the number of days listings spent on Zillow and the percentage of homes on the market with a price cut, and ranked the 35 largest metro areas in the country to determine whether buyers or sellers have more negotiating power in a given market.
^ivEach week, a count of the number of single-family, condominium and cooperative housing units listed for sale on Zillow is taken. The median of these values within a month is calculated as the monthly value. Because inventory can be seasonal, a seasonally adjusted value is reported using a standard STL procedure. This seasonally adjusted series is then smoothed using a three-month rolling average.
^vThe Zillow Rent Index is the median Rent Zestimate® (estimated monthly rental price) for a given geographic area on a given day, and includes the value of all single-family residences, condominiums, cooperatives and apartments in Zillow's database, regardless of whether they are currently listed for rent. It is expressed in dollars.

SOURCE Zillow, Inc.