Best Places to Bargain for a Home ? Zillow Blog - Real Estate ...

The real estate market is showing signs of life ? in many areas, home prices are rising, or at least stabilizing, and stories about bidding wars are starting to surfacing.

While all of this is good news for sellers, buyers remain in the driver?s seat in many parts of the country. To determine the metros where buyers had the most negotiating power, Zillow looked at factors including percentage of listings with price cuts, the median price cut, foreclosure re-sales, and the difference between the final list price and the final sale price. You may be surprised at which places made our Best Places to Bargain list.

Rockford, IL

Home values in Rockford are quite affordable compared to the rest of the country. The Zillow Home Value Index shows the median home value in Rockford is currently $77,700, well below the national average of $146,200. Nearly 40 percent of listings in March had a price cut and the median price cut was 8 percent.? Price cuts usually signal to buyers there is room to negotiate and that?s no exception here. Buyers in Rockford were able to negotiate another 6 percent off the listing price for this home for sale for $97,000 (below):

See other Rockford homes for-sale

Punta Gorda, FL

Florida was hit hard by the housing crisis but things are starting to turn around in certain areas. Home values in Punta Gorda were up over 3 percent from last quarter. In Punta Gorda, 36 percent of all listings in March had a price cut (median price was almost 8 percent).

This Punta Gorda home is for sale for $115,000 and recently added a $10,000 price cut (below):

See more Punta Gorda homes for-sale

Cleveland, OH

Listings with price cuts are on the rise in Cleveland with nearly 36 percent of listings in March taking a hit. Twenty-six percent of all sales in March were foreclosures, which means there is a lot of distressed inventory that helps keep a lid on the price of non-distressed listings. All of this means there are bargains for buyers in Cleveland.

This Cleveland home is for sale for $106,900 (below) and? just recently experienced a $2,100 price cut.

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See more homes for sale in Cleveland

Chicago, IL

Home values in Chicago have fallen almost 38 percent since the Chicago market peaked in 2006, which means buyers are looking at home values back at 2003 levels. Thirty-eight percent of listings in March had a price cut, up nearly 6 percent from a year ago. Median price cut was around 7 percent and buyers were able to negotiate another 5 percent off the last list price.

This Chicago home (below) is for sale $156,500

See more homes for sale in Chicago

Sarasota, FL

Another Florida market is experiencing some good news, with home values rising over the past quarter and month.? Despite the rise in values, buyers still have a lot of power here as 34 percent of the listings in March had price cuts and buyers were able to negotiate 6 percent off the list price.

This Sarasota home is for sale for $124,977 (below) and just recently experienced a $3,800 price cut.

See more homes for sale in Sarasota

New Haven, CT

Almost 37 percent of all listings in March had price cuts in New Haven, up 10 percent year over year.? The median price was 6 percent and buyers were able to knock off another 6 percent off the last price by the time of close.

This New Haven home (below) is for sale for $199,000:

See more New Haven homes for sale

Philadelphia, PA

While home values in Philadelphia weren?t hit nearly as hard as most of the country, they are still down 20 percent from their peak in 2007 to a current median home value of $103,700. Thirty-five percent of listings had a price cut in March, with the median price cut at almost 6 percent. Zillow?s data shows buyers are able to negotiate 5 percent off the list price.

This Philadelphia home is for sale for $184,900 and just recently had a price cut of $5,000.

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See more Philadelphia homes for sale

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