Although it’s no surprise that Colorado Springs, Colorado, was realtor.com’s hottest market for the third consecutive month, the company’s hottest markets list for the month of April contains a number of dark horses.
For instance, Fort Wayne, Indiana, ranked as the second hottest market, a significant rise in the ranks from its ranking as No. 54 in April 2019. Topeka, Kansas, made third hottest market, easily besting its ranking of 15th place from the previous year, and Pueblo, Colorado, made significant gains year-over-year as well, jumping from 42nd place in April 2019 to fourth place in April 2020.
realtor.com
Realtor.com establishes ranking for its hottest markets lists by analyzing where buyers are clicking on the most home listings on realtor.com and where homes are spending the fewest number of days on market.
Javier Vivas | realtor.com
“We’re seeing the continuation of earlier trends where we don’t expect the smaller, more affordable markets to cool down anytime soon,” Javier Vivas, director of economic research at realtor.com, said in a statement.
“For markets to remain hot,” Vivas added, “They’ll need to have an abundant supply of homes and a thriving job market.”
Properties in Colorado Springs gained about two times as many views as the average home in the U.S. These homes were sold in a median of 32 days, about twice as fast as average homes across the country. However, the median home price in Colorado Springs during April was $472,500, about 48 percent higher than the national median home price of $320,000.
Realtor.com noted, however, that even in the hottest markets, activity has generally been slower year-over-year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only four of the top 20 hottest markets sold faster in April 2020 compared to the previous year (Fort Wayne, Indiana; Pueblo, Colorado; Yuba City, California; and Burlington, North Carolina). In contrast, in March 2020, days on market were down for all realtor.com’s hottest markets. While only three markets in March’s hottest markets list saw fewer views per property year-over-year, 15 markets saw fewer views per property during April 2020 compared to April 2019.
The only hottest market during April to both gain more views per property and see number of days on the market improve was Pueblo, Colorado.
“Markets like Pueblo are attracting buyers that have been priced out of Denver,” Vivas said in a statement. “Homebuying demand has been pushed out of the bigger cities and into adjacent, [smaller] cities that tend to be lower-priced.”
