Searching for a house can feel like a full-time job these days—an adrenaline-fueled, palpitation-inducing job at that. In this blink-and-you-miss-it real estate market, homes in most places are coming on and off the market at a dizzying pace, as buyers (helped by record-low interest rates) are snatching up property at an unprecedented rate.
It might seem like no matter where you look, homes are selling quicker than before the COVID-19 pandemic turned the market on its head. But, as it turns out, not all markets are turbocharged quite to the same degree.
That’s why Realtor.com® wanted to find out where buyers have to make split-second decisions—and where they have a bit more time to think about what could be the largest purchase they’ll ever make. We crunched the data to locate the metropolitan areas where homes are flying off the market at the fastest pace, as well as the ones where homes are taking the longest to sell.
Across the country, homes spent a median of 43 days on the market in April. That’s nearly three weeks faster than the same time last year, when the reality of working from home during the pandemic began to settle in. Buyers are feeling pressured to make offers on properties they’ve toured briefly, only once, or even just online—sometimes from across the country.
“For buyers looking for a home in today’s fast-moving housing markets, it’s important to be prepared to move quickly,” says George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com. “Having financing lined up, knowing the neighborhood, and sticking to their budget’s upper limit would help to make a stressful experience more manageable.”
Four of the five fastest-moving metros on our list were located in the Western U.S., as Californians who find themselves being able to work from anywhere looked for more affordable alternatives. Some parts of the Midwest and Northeast are also seeing homes move at a fast clip. That’s notable because these areas don’t usually heat up until the summer months ahead of the back-to-school season. Because of this, Realtor.com economists forecast these markets could grow even hotter in the coming months.
On the other end of the spectrum, homes are moving slower in areas that have been affected more economically by the pandemic. To be clear, these markets aren’t languishing by any means; many are taking about the same time to sell as the average home sold just a year ago. These places tend to have more inventory, and more homes for sale means buyers can be a little pickier about when they put in an offer.
“Even a slowdown in these markets comes amid an incredibly frenzied real estate market,” Ratiu says.
To come up with this list, we figured out the median number of days homes stayed on the market in April on Realtor.com. We limited our list to the 250 largest metropolitan areas and used only one metro area per state to ensure geographic diversity. Metros include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas.
Median list price: $489,950
Median days on market in April: 8
The fastest-moving market on our list was Ogden, a mountain town less than 40 minutes north of Salt Lake City. It offers easy access to ski resorts like Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, and Nordic Valley, and has even more outdoor activities during the summer, including hiking, mountain biking, and fishing.
Median list price: $399,900
Median days on market in April: 10
The Manchester metro area has been featured in our 20 hottest markets for a few years now, thanks largely to its close proximity to scorchingly popular Boston (less than an hour away by car). Half of the homes here were sold within 10 days in April as buyers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York flock here to find more home for their hard-earned lucre.
Median list price: $494,340
Median days on market in April: 12
Located 70 miles south of Denver to the east of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Springs is another thriving, outdoor-centric city. This area draws nature lovers of all types and has much more affordable housing than the state’s capital (median list price: $575,000).
Median list price: $524,500
Median days on market in April: 15
Reno is another spillover market that’s seen a lot of love over the past year or so from Californians craving more elbowroom. What once was a haven for retirees has now become an outpost for tech workers who can log in from anywhere with a good Wi-Fi connection.
Median list price: $545,000
Median days on market in April: 15
Realtor.com named Vallejo the hottest housing market in the country in February, and it’s been a mainstay in our top 20 markets for the past several years. Homes here aren’t affordable per se (they currently clock in way above the national median price of $375,000), but they are far less expensive than what you can get in nearby San Francisco.
See the full list on Realtor.com
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