Have you been thinking about purchasing a vacation home or second home? First of all, congratulations making such an exciting decision! Second of all, be sure to contact us before randomly calling a real estate agent. We’ve been in the business for a long time and have many contacts all over the nation who can likely help you!
If you need a little guidance as to where to search for your vacation home or investment property, you might want to check out some of the latest hottest housing markets. These areas have been called the “hottest” real estate markets in the midwest and Northeast. You may be wondering, what makes them so popular? Good question. These are areas that have low housing prices and a great quality of life with many amenities. So what are you waiting for? Maybe your move to Green Bay Wisconsin is closer than you think (Perhaps just a shoulder season home if you’re not a cold weather fan – That winter can be tough for our mild weathered Northwesterners!).
Hot housing markets according to Realtor.com
Embedded from Realtor.com, all credit to Realtor.com – full article: https://www.realtor.com/research/september-2024-hottest-housing-markets/
Highlights
- The Manchester-Nashua, NH metro area ranked as the country’s hottest housing market for the ninth month in a row.
- Prices fell nationally but the month’s hottest markets saw moderate price growth (+3.6%) due to high demand and scarce for-sale inventory.
- The Northeast and the Midwest were the only regions on this month’s list with 10 markets each. September’s list is the 12th in a row that only contains Northeast and Midwest markets.
- The New York City metro area saw the biggest jump in its hotness ranking among large US metros compared to last year, climbing 70 spots to rank as the 200th hottest US market in September.
The Manchester-Nashua, N.H. metro area ranked as the country’s hottest housing market in September for the 30th time in the data’s history. This Boston-adjacent metro has been red-hot since March 2021, ranking among the top 3 markets each month for more than 3 years.
Manchester’s hotness means that high demand is met with low inventory as buyers claim available homes. The area has not seen any significant shift in buyer attention, which means that inventory has not been able to recover. This dynamic has kept time on market quick and competition fierce, which continues to feed market hotness.
Realtor.com’s Market Hotness rankings take into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique views per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com.
Prices Climb in 15 of the 20 Hottest Markets
On average, both price growth and demand outpace the national trend in the hottest markets. Home prices fell 1.0% year-over-year nationally in September, but many of the hottest markets saw still-climbing prices. Price growth in the hottest markets picked up slightly from 3.3% in August to an average 3.6% in September, reversing the recent trend of falling price growth. Demand, as measured by views per property, was 2.6 times the national level in the hottest markets in September, up slightly from the previous month.
This month’s hottest market, Manchester-Nashua, N.H., saw 3.4 times the listing viewership as was typical in the U.S. in September, and prices climbed 5.3% year-over-year in the metro. Rochester, NY (+13.0%) and Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI (+11.4%) saw the highest annual price growth of this month’s hottest markets.
While active listings were up 34.0% year-over-year nationally in September, many of the hottest markets saw more subdued listing growth. On average, the 20 hottest markets saw inventory increase 23.8% year-over-year in September. Though inventory is improving annually in most of the hottest markets, there were an average 57.0% fewer homes for sale in September compared to pre-pandemic, far outpacing the national decline of 23.2%.
High demand and scarce inventory conditions drive views-per-property higher, upping the competition for homes in the hottest markets, and leading to snappier home sales. Homes in the hottest markets sold about 1 day slower than last year but spent 3 weeks less time on the market than typical nationally (34 days in hot markets vs 55 days nationally).
Who’s In
All but four markets on the September Hottest Housing Markets list were also on August’s list. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H., Norwich-New London, Conn., Rochester, N.Y. and Peoria, Ill.. all jumped from within the top 35 markets last month.
Looking at which of the 300 ranked markets climbed the most year-over-year reveals that Sioux Falls, SD (131 spots hotter), Bloomington, IL (112 spots hotter), and Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY (89 spots hotter) have picked up popularity compared to last year.
Who’s Out
Five markets fell out of the top 20 from August’s list, but all remained in the top 30. La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN, Monroe, MI, and New Haven-Milford, CT each dropped out of the top 20 between August and September, along with Lancaster, PA and Toledo, OH. These areas remained popular, emphasizing the recent draw of Midwest and Northeast metros, which have dominated the list since February 2022.
Looking instead at which metros have fallen the furthest over the last year reveals a mix of southern and western that have fallen from popularity. The metros that have fallen the furthest include Savannah, GA (118 spots lower), Tampa, FL (106 spots lower), and Blacksburg-Christiansburg, VA (105 spots lower).
Some of these markets saw an 11% increase year over year, so go for it, invest in one of these markets and enjoy a ‘change of scenery’, and who knows, maybe increase your net worth while you’re at it!