Though prices are cooling across the United States, there are still many metros that are extremely competitive for buyers, according to a recent analysis by LendingTree.
LendingTree analyzed credit scores, the share of buyers shopping for a mortgage before finding the house the want, and average down payments in the 50 largest U.S. metro areas to determine which cities are the most competitive.
Further explaining its methodology, LendingTree said that these criteria were chosen because the average American cannot afford to pay cash for a home. That means most Americans need good credit to secure a loan, and enough cash to be able to make a substantial down payment. Thus, a more competitive buyer has higher credit and the ability to make larger down payments on a home.
Denver, Los Angeles, and Portland, Ore. top the list for the most competitive buyers in the United States, as those buyers have higher than average credit and the ability to make substantial down payments.
In Denver, the share of buyers who shopped around for a mortgage before settling on a house was a remarkable 67 percent. 56 percent of Denver buyers have good or excellent credit, and the average down payment is 16 percent of the home’s value.
Los Angeles isn’t too far behind in any of those metrics, as the share of buyers who shopped around for a mortgage before settling on a house was 64 percent. 55 percent of Los Angeles buyers have good or excellent credit, and the average down payment is 17 percent of the home’s value.
Follow the top three most competitive markets is San Francisco, San Jose, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Seattle, Sacramento, and Boston, respectively.
Conversely, Birmingham, Ala., Virginia Beach, Va., and Pittsburgh have the least competitive buyers in the country. In these three areas, only 43% of mortgage shoppers had prime credit, compared to an average of 49% across the 50 largest metros in the U.S.
In Birmingham, 59 percent of buyers shopped around for a mortgage before settling on a house. The
About 36 percent of buyers had good or excellent credits, and the average down payment was about 12 percent of the home’s value.
For a full ranking, check out LendingTree’s list below.
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