Sun Belt Housing Markets Where Sellers Are Taking Losses
Nearly 1 in 5 sellers in some Sun Belt markets are listing below purchase price. Here's where the pain is worst.
If you bought a home in certain Sun Belt markets at the peak, you might be underwater — and you're not alone. New data shows that in some of the hottest pandemic-era zip codes, close to 20% of sellers are now listing their homes for less than they originally paid. That's a brutal reversal for anyone who bought in 2021 or 2022 expecting prices to keep climbing.
The Sun Belt was ground zero for the pandemic housing boom. Remote workers flooded cities like Phoenix, Austin, and Tampa, pushing prices to levels that looked stretched even at the time. Now, with mortgage rates still elevated and buyer demand cooling, those markets are correcting harder than almost anywhere else in the country. Sellers who need to move can't just wait it out.
Read more Target Date Funds May Be Too Conservative for Long Retirements →
Listing below your purchase price isn't just a paper loss — it can mean coming to the closing table with cash to cover your original down payment and any remaining mortgage balance. That's a real financial hit, and it's happening at scale in these markets right now. If you're a buyer, though, this is your signal: motivated sellers are out there, and some of them are desperate.
The broader takeaway is that the "real estate always goes up" playbook broke down fast once rates spiked. Markets that saw the biggest, fastest run-ups are now seeing the sharpest pullbacks. Timing and location matter enormously — and the data is making that painfully clear for a growing number of Sun Belt homeowners.
Continue reading at MarketWatch.com
