20 of the Hottest Real Estate Markets
27 May 2016

As the average temperature climbs fast across the U.S., interest from would-be home buyers is rising just as quickly—and that means the number of days that homes sit on the market is dwindling, according to the most recent analysis of realtor.com® data for the month of April.

While the roster of metro areas on the monthly list of the country’s hottest markets looks pretty similar to those of months past, we’re seeing some new heat emanating from the Midwest.

The Midwest region is representative of the status of the broader U.S. recovery. When Columbus, OH, is the 10th hottest market in the country, you know that the Midwest—and the U.S. overall—is back and doing well.

The Northeast is seeing much stronger year-over-year growth in today’s pending home sales data than the Midwest or any other region, but the Midwest’s growth is better than the U.S. overall.

Close to 550,000 new listings came onto the market in April, which helped total inventory grow 2% over March. However, home sales are accelerating so quickly, the added inventory still isn’t keeping up with demand.

The median age of inventory, which fell 22 days from February to March, dropped by six more days in April. So there are 4% fewer homes available for sale compared with this time last year, and homes are selling five days faster.

Pent-up demand, lower mortgage rates, and strong employment continue to power the strongest and healthiest real estate market we have seen in a decade.

Here are the metro areas where sellers are making bank and buyers need to be on their toes:

  1. San Francisco, CA
  2. Vallejo, CA
  3. Denver, CO
  4. Santa Rosa, CA
  5. San Jose, CA
  6. Dallas, TX
  7. Santa Cruz, CA
  8. Sacramento, CA
  9. Ann Arbor, MI
  10. Columbus, OH
  1. Boston, MA
  2. Colorado Springs, CO
  3. San Diego, CA
  4. Stockton, CA
  5. Raleigh, NC
  6. Lafayette, IN
  7. Fort Wayne, IN
  8. Oxnard, CA
  9. Modesto, CA
  10. Sioux City, IA

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