Do you want to purchase a home in Denver or Los Angeles? Well, you might need some luck on your side, as these housing markets are among the most competitive in the country, according to LendingTree.
Although the housing market is expected to experience a slowdown in 2019, some metropolitan areas are thriving.
Because of this, LendingTree ranked the 50 largest metros based on average down payment percentage, the share of buyers shopping for a mortgage before identifying a particular home, and the percentage of buyers who have a credit score above 680.
“These criteria were chosen because the average American cannot afford to pay cash for a home — this means that most Americans need good credit to secure a loan, and enough cash to be able to make a substantial down payment,” LendingTree writes. “A more competitive buyer has higher credit and the ability to put down larger down payments.”
According to LendingTree, these are the most competitive metros in America:
(Source: LendingTree)
LendingTree also discovered that the most competitive buyers lived in western regions. In fact, of the top 10 most competitive cities, St. Louis and Boston were the only non-western cities included on the list.
Notably, the company’s data also indicates that the average down payment for the top 10 most competitive metros is 16%. This percentage is two points higher than the average down payment percent found across all the cities LendingTree analyzed for its study.
NOTE: LendingTree analyzed nearly 1.5 million purchase mortgage loan requests that came through its marketplace throughout 2018. The company then utilized these requests to rank the top 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the nation.
