Areas of the West boast what realtor.com called some of the hottest housing markets in the country as the nature of work is returning to the pre-COVID era, the real estate platform said, adding that it looks at popularity based on how many views the areas attract on its website and the number of days listings stay active.
The Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise area in Nevada jumped 141 spots on the list of hottest markets, followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale in Arizona, which went up 76 positions, along with St. Louis, Missouri, which climbed 75 spots, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, up 60 spots, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, also in California, which saw a 59-place improvement.
“Large metros continue to heat up as homebuyers return to the office and look for a home near business hubs,” said Hannah Jones, the senior economic research analyst at realtor.com. “These areas pulled in about 11 percent more views per listing than was typical in the U.S. in February, and homes spent 15 fewer days on the market than the U.S. median.”
The Manchester-Nashua market in New Hampshire retained its top “hot” spot, followed by Rochester, New York, Worcester in the Massachusetts-Connecticut area, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Columbus, Ohio, rounding up the top five.
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The housing market continues to grapple with high mortgage rates and elevated prices, making buying a home the most expensive it has been in years. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is averaging nearly 6.8 percent as of March 28, according to Freddie Mac, higher than a year ago, when the interest rate for a home loan was at 6.32 percent.
Prices went up by merely 0.3 percent in February on a yearly basis nationally, but the most popular markets saw a nearly 4 percent jump, according to realtor.com. But prices in these markets are easing, Jones said in her note.
“February’s average hot market price growth was the lowest since August 2021, suggesting that easing price growth is affecting even the most in-demand markets,” she wrote.
Part of the reason prices are easing, however, was due to the changing nature of properties that are entering the market.
“The typical home for sale in the hottest markets was slightly smaller than one year ago,” Jones noted. “Looking instead at price per square foot growth reveals that the median listing price per square foot increased 5.5 [percent] annually in February.”
Southern metros have struggled in popularity, according to Jones.
“Eight of the top 10 cooling markets were located in the South and two were in the West,” she said. “Sun Belt metros picked up steam during the COVID-19 pandemic, but climbing prices and mortgage rates eventually stifled buyer demand.
“More affordable markets in the Midwest and Northeast grew in popularity as once-frenzied Southern markets cooled off.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.