10 Best Places to Buy Foreclosures in 2012
Prices for residential real estate, which plunged more than 50 percent in some markets after the housing bubble burst, appear to be stabilizing. Some real estate markets are better than others. But where are the best opportunities to buy discounted foreclosures? Which metropolitan areas offer homebuyers and investors the biggest discounts and the highest potential return on investment (ROI)?
To help you find a foreclosure bargain, RealtyTrac has selected the 10 best places in America to buy a foreclosure in 2012.
To compile our Top 10 list, we started with the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas based on population. From there, we narrowed the list further by selecting markets with at least 200 sales transactions in January 2012. The list was then pared down by selecting metros where the average foreclosure sales price was at least 30 percent below the average price of a non-foreclosure home. We also looked at unemployment and sales prices and then tabulated which metros were the best to buy foreclosure in.
| Metro Area |
January 2012 Foreclosure Sales |
% of All Sales |
Avg Sales Price |
Avg Foreclosure Discount % |
| Kansas City |
353 |
28.72 |
$73,257 |
51.18 |
| Boston |
512 |
18.22 |
$195,672 |
48.58 |
| Pittsburgh |
274 |
15.33 |
$73,142 |
47.95 |
| Tulsa, OK |
211 |
22.79 |
$86,725 |
38.30 |
| San Francisco |
1,995 |
47.48 |
$307,803 |
38.05 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL |
606 |
27.01 |
$102,022 |
37.77 |
| Charlotte |
303 |
15.85 |
$118,808 |
37.56 |
| Tucson, AZ |
632 |
43.20 |
$112,660 |
34.72 |
| Seattle |
988 |
33.56 |
$212,565 |
34.64 |
| Columbus, OH |
323 |
21.32 |
$98,223 |
31.88 |
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