Located 70 miles south of Denver, Colorado Springs offers an outdoor lover’s lifestyle and craft breweries, tasting rooms and health-conscious restaurants.
Nationwide, homes spent an average of about 43 days on the market in April – nearly three weeks faster than the same time last year. Among the fastest of this speedy market, Colorado Springs is the third fastest on the list, according to a recent study by Realtor.com.
Buyers are feeling pressured –and rightfully so. In April alone, Colorado Springs median number of days on the market was only 12. Competition for properties is fierce.
Located 70 miles south of Denver, Colorado Springs offers an outdoor lover’s lifestyle and craft breweries, tasting rooms and health-conscious restaurants.
Even with a median list price of $494,340 – almost half-million dollars – buyers are making offers on homes after one brief visit. Even at this price-point, it’s more affordable than nearby Denver’s median list price of $575,000 or Boulder’s median of $1,350,000.
“For buyers looking for a home in today’s fast-moving housing markets, it’s important to be prepared to move quickly,” says George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com. “Having financing lined up, knowing the neighborhood, and sticking to their budget’s upper limit would help to make a stressful experience more manageable.”
In post-pandemic mode, Californians who are able to work from anywhere have found more affordable alternatives, escalating the Western U.S. housing market to four of the five fastest-moving metros on the Realtor.com list. Some parts of the Midwest and Northeast also are experiencing fast-selling markets.
Even in the nation’s slowest moving markets, the pace is respectable. Many homes are taking about the same time to sell as the average home sold just a year ago.
Realtor.com analyzed the median number of days homes stayed on the market in April and limited the list to the 250 largest metropolitan areas. Metros include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas.
Here is the list of places where homes are selling the fastest.
1. Ogden, UT
With a median list price of $489,950 and a median of 8 days on the market in April, Ogden is the fastest-selling market in the U.S. Ogden is a lovely mountain town less than 40 minutes north of Salt Lake City. It offers easy access to ski resorts like Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, and Nordic Valley, and has even more outdoor activities during the summer, including hiking, mountain biking, and fishing.
Ogden offers a strong economy with an unemployment rate of just 2.7% in March, according to the U.S. Labor Department. That’s significantly much lower than the national rate of 6%.
2. Manchester, NH
The Manchester metro area has a median list price of $399,900 and a median of 10 days on the market in April. It has been among the 20 hottest markets for a few years, in part due to a close proximity to popular Boston. Buyers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York seek Manchester, where they can get more for their money.
3. Colorado Springs, CO
Located 70 miles south of Denver to the east of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Springs is a thriving city for outdoor lovers. The area has median list price of $494,340 and a median of 12 days on the market in April. Major employers are the United States Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, and nearby Peterson Air Force Base.
4. Reno, NV
With a median list price of $524,500, Reno homes are about half the price of those in San Francisco, where the median list price is $1,061,500. Once a haven for retirees, Reno is now a lure for tech workers who can log in from anywhere with a good Wi-Fi connection. The typical listing lasts just 15 days on the market.
5. Vallejo, CA
Vallejo is appealing whether you work from home or need to make the 40-minute commute to San Francisco – not counting traffic slowdowns. For a more scenic trip, a ferry across the bay takes about an hour. And for your commute, you can buy a house for a median list price of $545,000, which stays on the market for a median of 15 days
Rounding out the top 10 speediest selling metros are Columbus, OH and Elkhart, IN at 16 days; Austin, TX at 17 days; and Topeka, KS and Rochester, NY at 19 days.
Read the full story at www.realtor.com/news/trends/cities-where-homes-are-selling-the-fastest-and-the-slowest.
By Tom Kalinski. Tom is the broker/owner of RE/MAX of Boulder, the local residential real estate company he established in 1977. He was inducted into Boulder County’s Business Hall of Fame in 2016 and has a 40-year background in commercial and residential real estate. For questions, e-mail Tom at [email protected], call 303.441.5620 or visit boulderco.com.
