When a real-estate market is “hot,” that means it’s good for sellers and real estate agents, and not so good for buyers. But the month of July may be a bit different.
According to preliminary estimates from Realtor.com’s chief economist, Jonathan Smoke, July’s median price for a home actually fell to $251,000, down 1% compared with June. That’s good news for buyers. Sellers received good news too: the July price is 7% higher than the July 2015 price, a record for the month.
On top of that, homes for sale remained on the market a median of 68 days, one day less than a year ago, but three days slower than June. That month-over-month drop is normal because inventory reaches a peak in July and the increased supply of houses leads to fewer sales. New listings totaled an estimated 500,000 in July, not enough to keep up with demand and lower than the inventory level in July 2015.
Jonathan Smoke noted:
The best spring in a decade has transitioned into the hottest summer in a decade. Pent-up demand left over from tight supply for two years against the backdrop of mortgage rates remaining near three-year lows have encouraged buyers to keep active at a time when sales usually begin to decline.
Realtor.com has identified the 20 hottest U.S. home markets, those medium-to-large cities where homes sell fastest because buyers are eager to buy. Of the top 20, 12 are in California and five are located in the San Francisco Bay area, not including Santa Cruz or Sacramento. Here’s the full list:
| 20 Hottest Markets | July Rank | June Rank |
| Vallejo, CA | 1 | 1 |
| Dallas, TX | 2 | 3 |
| Denver, CO | 3 | 7 |
| San Francisco, CA | 4 | 2 |
| Stockton, CA | 5 | 4 |
| Columbus, OH | 6 | 11 |
| San Diego, CA | 7 | 5 |
| Santa Cruz, CA | 8 | 15 |
| Sacramento, CA | 9 | 8 |
| Santa Rosa, CA | 10 | 6 |
| Yuba City, CA | 11 | N/A |
| Modesto, CA | 12 | 9 |
| Detroit, MI | 13 | 12 |
| Fort Wayne, IN | 14 | 10 |
| San Jose, CA | 15 | 13 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 16 | N/A |
| Fresno, CA | 17 | N/A |
| Eureka, CA | 18 | 16 |
| Nashville, TN | 19 | N/A |
| Ann Arbor, MI | 20 | 17 |
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