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10 fastest-moving real estate markets in April

By
Real Estate Agent with Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Cal-BRE # 01734464

Here's a quick look at the National real estate market.  This article came from Realtor.com and discusses the "fastest-moving" markets in the country.  One very good sign is that half of the top ten are from California, a very good sign for our region moving forward through this year.  As i've discussed in the past through my blog and my monthly video updates, i'm expecting 2011 to set the new benchmark for the Sacramento Real estate market.  This year should be pretty flat in terms of median price (up one month a bit, down a little in another month).  Also, the sales volume should be setting the "normal" for our area moving forward.  The majority of the mess is behind us and now it's going to be 1/3 short sales, 1/3 bank owned/REO sales, and 1/3 equity sales for the next couple of years.  Take a look at the article below.

clear skies,

Doug Reynolds

www.SellWithDoug.com

10 fastest-moving real estate markets in April

Realtor.com: California markets account for half the list

Half of the 10 fastest-moving housing markets nationwide in April were in California, according to monthly data released this week by Realtor.com.

To gauge how quickly properties move in 146 metro areas, Realtor.com calculated the median age of inventory for the month of April in those markets. In order to obtain the median, the site subtracted a property's listed date from whichever was earlier: its end listing date or the end of the time period, and took the median of all the resulting individual days on the website.

In the U.S. overall, the median inventory age was 95 days in April, a 13.1 percent increase from April 2010. Denver and Oakland, Calif., had the shortest medians of all 146 markets: 44 days each. Every market in the top 10 saw its median inventory age rise on a year-over-year basis. The Denver market saw the biggest jump, up 25.7 percent, followed by Omaha, Neb., up 25.5 percent, to 59 days.

The Washington, D.C., metro area accounted for two of the markets in the top 10 list. Realtor.com separates data for metro areas that encompass multiple states.

Nine out of the 10 fastest-moving metros saw their inventory drop year-over-year. Both Washington, D.C., area metro segments in the top 10 saw the sharpest declines. Among the top 10, only Oakland saw its listings inventory rise, by 5 percent. Overall, total listings fell 8.3 percent in the U.S. in April.

Seven out of the 10 markets saw their median list prices fall year-over-year in April. Two Central Valley metro areas hit hard by foreclosures saw the biggest declines: Fresno, Calif., down 15.3 percent to $160,000, and Bakersfield, Calif., down 10 percent to $135,000.

The median list price in Denver remained essentially flat year-over-year, at $249,900. Only Omaha and the Virginia segment of the Washington, D.C., metro area saw their list prices rise: up 1.9 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The median list price nationwide fell 4 percent last month, to $191,900.

  Geographic area Total Listings Median Age of Inventory
    # listings % yr.-over-
yr. change
# listings % yr.-over-
yr. change
           
  United States 2,268,656 -8.3% 95 13.1%
           
1 Denver, Colo. 5,176 -4% 44 25.7%
2 Oakland, Calif. 8,794 5% 44 12.8%
3 San Francisco 5,588 -4.5% 54 10.2%
4 Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va.(Va.) 14,927 -13.8% 57 14%
5 Tulsa, Okla. 4,737 -2.3% 58 16%
6 Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va-W.Va. (D.C.) 2,911 -13.7% 58 13.7%
7 Bakersfield, Calif. 3,527 -1.6% 58 11.5%
8 San Jose, Calif. 6,096 -7.3% 59 15.7%
9 Fresno, Calif. 4,294 -10.9% 59 3.5%
10 Omaha, Neb.-Iowa (Neb.) 4,187 -8% 59 25.5%

Source: Realtor.com

 

Steve, Joel & Steve A. Chain
Chain Real Estate Investments & Mortgage, Steve & Joel Chain - Cottonwood, CA

Doug,

Great commentary; often hard hit areas ultimately create attractive financial opportunties.

Good speed in your Sacaramento Real Estate sales,

Steve

May 25, 2011 05:36 AM
Bryan Robertson
Los Altos, CA

I'm near the San Jose market and one reason it's falling is that older inventory priced way below market is being snapped up.  The high-end markets around San Jose are all doing very well, moving up strongly, but they're not enough to counter the high volume of the low end of the market.

However, give it another quarter and not only will the market still be hot but we'll see price increases to match.

May 25, 2011 07:57 AM