January, typically the slowest month of the year for real estate, is anything but at the start of 2017.
With inventory at record lows, the median age of property listings on realtor.com is expected to decrease four days from last year to 96 days.
The median home price increased 10% from last January to $250,000. Normally, median home prices hit their lowest level in January.
“We saw evidence of a stronger than normal off-season starting last September and October due to pent-up demand and surging interest from first-time buyers,” realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said. “Since the election demand seems to have intensified – potentially as a reaction to mortgage rates rapidly moving higher.”
“The threat of rates approaching multi-year highs in the months ahead is creating a sense of urgency,” Smoke said. “The downside to this strong off-season is that we have started 2017 with a new low volume of available homes for sale and a new high for prices.”
In fact, realtor.com put together a list of what Realtors say are the hottest markets for January. The listings receive 1.5 to 2.6 times the number of views per listing compared to the national average. The hottest markets are also seeing inventory movement stay constant instead of slowing down that you would typically see in January.
Note that the median age of inventory is only one measure being accounted for, based on Realtor impressions of what makes their market hot.
Here are the top 10 housing markets so far for 2017:
10. Fresno, California
Median age of inventory: 69 days
9. Stockton-Lodi, California
Median age of inventory: 62 days
8. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado
Median age of inventory: 67 days
7. Yuba City, California
Median age of inventory: 62 days
6. Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, California
Median age of inventory: 67 days
5. San Diego-Carlsbad, California
Median age of inventory: 56 days
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
Median age of inventory: 63 days
3. Vallejo-Fairfield, California
Median age of inventory: 59 days
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
Median age of inventory: 45 days
1. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California
Median age of inventory: 47 days
