Redfin

Here's a look at 12 of the nation's most affordable housing markets, based on the lowest shares of median local income needed to buy a house in the area, according to Redfin.

Even before Amazon.com Inc. completes its Northern Virginia office hub, the e-commerce giant has helped make the area the most competitive housing market in the U.S.

With bidding wars subsiding, new-home sales prices dropped, causing the largest decline in new construction since 2013, according to Redfin.

There was a fairly small chance that homebuyers faced a bidding war in July, compared with the prior year when the odds were almost 50-50, according to Redfin.

Black Americans haven't experienced the same increase in housing values, wealth and ownership that white Americans have during the past decade's economic expansion, when home prices soared 73%, according to Redfin.

In the constant search for metro areas offering affordability and purchasing power, consumers abscond exorbitantly priced big cities in favor of alternative locales further inland.

With housing supply constrained and mortgage rates on a downslope throughout the year, buyers jumped at purchasing a home when the opportunity arose in June, according to Redfin.

Here's how rapidly the U.S. housing market has cooled: Buyers are now about four times less likely to face a bidding war than they were just a year ago.

Rising affordability through declining mortgage rates brought more buyers to the table and cut down the national inventory of for-sale homes, according to Redfin.

Colorado's hottest real estate market this year isn't Denver or Colorado Springs or Fort Collins. It is Pueblo, which reflects a larger national trend that has buyers scrounging through the bargain bin to find homes they can afford.