Smaller metro areas known for affordability won out realtor.com®’s list of top-performing markets in July. Several of the areas topping its list are industrial towns in the Rust Belt that have undergone revitalization, or are smaller, less pricier alternatives to a nearby larger city.
Fort Wayne, Ind., hit the top spot on the hottest housing market list in July as one of three Indiana metros to be included in the 20 hottest markets list, according to realtor.com®. Researchers rank the metros based on where the fastest sales are occurring and the markets that see the highest number of searches at realtor.com®. Fort Wayne, for example, had nearly triple the views on realtor.com® than typical properties throughout the rest of the country. Its median days on the market dropped seven days over the past year.
“A move-in-ready house that lists for under $200,000 will typically sell within 24 to 48 hours,” Beth Walker, a real estate broker at Fairfield Group, REALTORS®, in Fort Wayne and president of the Upstate Alliance of REALTORS®, told realtor.com®. “And it’s not uncommon for it to have multiple offers.”
All in all, the hottest housing markets in July “have a decent economy. They’re producing jobs. They’re growing,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com®. “They have lower home price tags, and they have more starter homes than other markets.”
The 20 hottest housing markets in July, according to realtor.com®, are:
- Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Columbus, Ohio
- Pueblo, Colo.
- Midland, Texas
- Lafayette, Ind.
- Kennewick, Wash.
- Manchester, N.H.
- Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Spokane, Wash.
- Janesville-Beloit, Wis.
- Yuba City, Calif.
- Monroe, Mich.
- Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.
- Dayton, Ohio
- Elkhart-Goshen, Ind.
- Buffalo, N.Y.
- Omaha, Neb.
- Sacramento, Calif.
- Akron, Ohio
Source: “America’s Hottest—and Most Unexpected—Real Estate Markets in July 2019,” realtor.com® (Aug. 8, 2019)