House buying on a budget? Here are markets to try, avoid

If you’re looking for a house to buy, you may want to consider Chicago.

While sellers have the upper hand in many markets where tight inventory hampers prospective home buyers, Owners.com, a real estate brokerage, recently released its 2017 Market Recap data study to find the best and worst markets for home buyers.

Owners.com looked at metro areas with more than 1 million people and analyzed a variety of factors, including home sales prices, the difference between listing and sales prices, the average number of days on the market and the average listed inventory count.

In addition, the study looked at rent increases, which were typically highest in the top markets for sellers.

Here are the 10 markets where buyers found more affordable options and less competition for houses in 2017: ■ Chicago area ■ Virginia Beach area ■ Philadelphia area ■ Jacksonville, Florida ■ Hartford, Connecticut ■ New York area ■ Miami area ■ San Antonio ■ Birmingham, Alabama, area ■ Houston

The 10 most overheated markets, where sellers have the upper hand and residents are paying more than 33 percent of their household income for their mortgage, are: ■ Kahului, Hawaii, area ■ Grants Pass, Oregon ■ San Jose area ■ San Francisco area ■ Santa Rosa ■ San Luis Obispo area ■ Urban Honolulu ■ Santa Barbara area ■ Los Angeles area ■ Napa area