Searching for a home? These are the top 20 U.S. housing markets
After a record-breaking 5.6 million homes sold in 2020, the highest in 14 years, the U.S. housing market is heating up even more as it enters the traditional homebuying season in April. The time frame between March and August accounts for 56% of existing home sales.
Reclaiming the top spot as the hottest market in the country is the Manchester-Nashua metro area in New Hampshire after last holding the title in October 2020. Half of all homes in Manchester, which is about 46 miles from Boston, were selling in under 19 days in March — 10 days faster than last year, and 35 days faster than is typical in the rest of the country, according to a report by Realtor.com.
The second-hottest market is also in the Granite State. That title went to Concord, New Hampshire, where half of all homes spent just 20 days on the market.
The median listing price of homes in the Manchester-Nashua area was $420,000 in March, up 8.4% year over last year.
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Both areas are an affordable alternative to nearby Boston, where median listing prices were hovering around $700,000 in March. Boston accounted for about 50% of views coming into the Manchester-Nashua metro area.
“Metro areas in New Hampshire are positioned like a lot of small towns or smaller cities that are not too far from the big city,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com. “And people are looking further away from city centers in part because they have the flexibility to work remotely now, and perhaps some hope that that may continue into the future.”
The top 20 hottest markets were determined based on the number of unique views per property and the number of days a listing stayed active on Realtor.com in March 2021. Homes in these 20 markets received up to four times the number of views per listing compared to the national average and are selling 23 to 44 days more quickly than the typical property in the United States overall.
“For buyers, it's a tough real estate market,” said Hale. “But we should see more sellers coming, which means more options for buyers who may be quite frustrated at not finding what they're hoping to find when they are there.”
Ten states were represented in the top 20 list -- California, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. California dominated with six markets represented.
The 20 hottest housing markets in March were:
1. Manchester-Nashua metro area, New Hampshire
Viewers per property: 3.02
Days on market: 19
Median price: $420,000
2. Concord, New Hampshire
Viewers per property: 4.10
Days on market: 20
Median home price: $362,000
3. Vallejo-Fairfield, California
Viewers per property: 1.83
Days on market: 11
Median home price: $550,000
4. Burlington, North Carolina
Viewers per property: 2.29
Days on market: 21
Median home price: $302,000
5. Springfield, Ohio
Viewers per property: 3.17
Days on market: 26
Median home price: $145,000
6. Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana
Viewers per property: 2.12
Days on market: 26
Median home price: $297,000
7. Yuba City, California
Viewers per property: 2.20
Days on market: 27
Median home price: $427,000
8. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
Viewers per property: 1.68
Days on market: 20
Median home price: $1,222,000
9.Stockton-Lodi, California
Viewers per property: 1.54
Days on market: 17
Median home price: $468,000
10.Spokane-Spokane Valley, Washington
Viewers per property: 1.59
Days on market: 19
Median home price: $435,000
11. Janesville-Beloit, Wisconsin
Viewers per property: 2.78
Days on market: 30
Median home price: $250,000
12. Modesto, California
Viewers per property: 1.54
Days on market: 19
Median home price: $499,000
13. Reno, Nevada
Viewers per property:1.39
Days on market: 15
Median home price: $562,000
14. Worcester, Massachusetts -Connecticut metro area
Viewers per property: 1.83
Days on market: 30
Median home price: $395,000
15. Appleton, Wisconsin
Viewers per property: 2.02
Days on market: 31
Median home price: $302,000
16. Coeur D'alene, Idaho
Viewers per property: 1.49
Days on market: 23
Median home price: $799,000
17. Madison, Wisconsin
Viewers per property: 1.59
Days on market: 28
Median home price: $399,000
18. Eureka-Arcata-Fortuna, California
Viewers per property: 1.88
Days on market: 31
Median home price: $439,000
19. Columbus, Ohio
Viewers per property: 1.54
Days on market: 29
Median home price: $329,000
20. Akron, Ohio
Viewers per property: 1.73
Days on market: 31
Median home price:$180,000
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is the Housing and Economy reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on Twitter @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Homes Near Me: Here were the top 20 U.S. housing markets in March 2021
