A recent publication by realtor.com ranked U.S. city housing markets on a "hotness" scale - taking into account housing market supply and demand by number of listing views. Boston has secured a top position as the nation's #2 hottest housing market for May 2018.
While Californian cities have occupied several top positions in past months, the May rankings are better distributed, with Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Idaho, Colorado, Indiana, Wisconsin and Washington represented in the list. California had dominated the national market list in April 2018, with San Francisco, Vallejo, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Stockton and Sacramento all holding high positions.
In the website's May publication, director of economic research at realtor.com, Javier Vivas, commented on California's representation. "The California housing market has been hot for a long time - but maybe too hot. Our May hotness index further confirms we're seeing that as prices in California continue to soar, people are increasingly looking elsewhere. As we continue into what we expect to be the hottest home-buying season in history, look for a wide variety of locales to remain red-hot."
In the city's ranking of median age of inventory, Boston was tied with Midland, Texas at 28 days.
The ranking is based on listing views by market, an indicator of demand, and median days on market, an indicator of supply.
Realtor.com's May 2018 Hotness Rankings
May 2018 Rank | U.S. City | May Median Age of Inventory | April Rank | April Median Age of Inventory |
1 | Midland, Texas | 28 days | 1 | 30 days |
2 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H. | 28 days | 2 | 30 days |
3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. | 22 days | 3 | 24 days |
4 | Columbus, Ohio | 31 days | 4 | 32 days |
5 | Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. | 31 days | 5 | 30 days |
6 | Boise City, Idaho | 31 days | 11 | 34 days |
7 | Stockton-Lodi, Calif | 30 days | 8 | 32 days |
8 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y. | 33 days | 17 | 41 days |
9 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. | 31 days | 25 | 39 days |
10 | Fort Wayne, Ind. | 35 days | 30 | 47 days |
11 | Colorado Springs, Colo. | 30 days | 6 | 30 days |
12 | Sacramento—Roseville—Arden-Arcade, Calif. | 31 days | 7 | 33 days |
13 | Worcester, Mass.-Conn. | 34 days | 21 | 40 days |
14 | Rochester, N.Y. | 37 days | 14 | 38 days |
15 | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 32 days | 9 | 36 days |
16 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich. | 37 days | 16 | 40 days |
17 | Odessa, Texas | 34 days | 15 | 37 days |
18 | Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash. | 33 days | 13 | 34 days |
19 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas | 37 days | 19 | 38 days |
20 | Racine, Wis. | 39 days | 12 | 38 days |
Last year, researchers found that new homebuilding was the single best predictor of increases in home inventory in the U.S. With a wealth of residential developments on the rise in the city, Boston's 2018 homebuilding forecast is looking bright.
Click below for a link to Boston's Development #CraneWatch - featuring proposed, approved and constructed developments throughout the city: