Where homebuyer leverage has improved the most (and least) since 2022

Bankrate's Buyer Opportunity Index analyzed housing data across 100 U.S. metro areas to show where buying power has shifted most since 2022. Buyers have gained the most negotiating leverage in Colorado Springs, CO; Raleigh, NC; and Austin, TX — and the least in Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York.

Bankrate’s Buyer Opportunity Index scored the 100 largest U.S. metro areas across four key metrics: housing supply, discounted listings (the percentage of for-sale homes in an area that have cut their asking price), the median time homes sit unsold, and the median sale-to-list ratio. It then ranked each according to their relative market strength (100 is the strongest buyer’s market, 1 is the weakest) and compared how those rankings shifted from 2022 to 2026.
Chart: Nick Pipitone, InmanSource: BankrateGet the data Download imageCreated with Datawrapper