Boomerang buyers —former home owners who have gone through a short sale, foreclosure, or bankruptcy in the past few years and are saving up for a down payment to purchase a home again—are coming back. They’re expected to flood markets in some of the hardest hit areas for short sales and foreclosures in the coming years. For example, boomerang buyers are predicted to account for nearly one in every five home sales in the metro Phoenix area this year—double the projected U.S. rate.

Rising rents and the desire to own again now that the economy is more stable are driving many boomerang buyers to re-enter the market. They also want to jump in before interest rates and home prices climb too much higher.

The following markets have the highest share of boomerang buyers:

• Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.: 4.1% (percentage of all U.S. boomerang buyers in 2013)
• Los Angeles: 3.7%
• Phoenix: 3.6%
• Chicago: 2.5%
• Atlanta: 2.4%
• Las Vegas: 2.12%
• Washington, D.C.: 2.1%