Seattle was once again the fastest moving U.S. market in February, with half of all homes in the metro area entering into contract in just 12 days, according to a Redfin report released Thursday.
In its monthly report on 42 metro markets across the U.S., real estate agency Redfin found that the median sales price in Seattle reached $455,000, representing a 12.9% increase year-over-year. Out of the 2,769 homes sold in February, nearly half were also sold above their asking prices, reflecting a very competitive market.
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Seattle had the most active market in the country last December, but in January 2017, that title went to Denver.
In February, Oakland, California, ranked as the second fastest-moving market, followed by Denver; San Jose and San Francisco, both in California. Nationally, it took an average of 60 days for a typical home to sell.
| A Snapshot of Fastest Moving Markets | ||
| Rank | Metro area | days on market |
| 1 | Seattle, WA | 12 |
| 2 | Oakland, CA | 15 |
| 3 | Denver, CO | 18 |
| 4 | San Jose, CA | 21 |
| 5 | San Francisco, CA | 28 |
| Nationwide | 60 | |
| Source: Redfin |
The median sale price across the country increased 7.2% to $260,900 from the same period last year. This was the largest yearly gain in three years and also marked the 60th consecutive month of home price appreciation, according to Redfin.
Home sales increased slightly, 1.8%, from a year ago, due to a severe shortage of supply. The number of new listings and overall number of homes available for sale declined 12.9% and 6.4% respectively in February. Housing inventory has fallen by double digits in three months in a row.
Other highlights of the report include:
San Jose, California, led as the nation’s most competitive market, where 63.1% of homes sold above listing prices; Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had the nation’s highest rate of price growth, rising 21.4% from a year ago to $285,000. It’s followed by three metro areas in Florida: Deltona, Tampa and Jacksonville, with price increases of 20.1%, 18.8% and 18.7%, respectively; Charleston, South Carolina, reported the biggest increase in sales, up 39.2% from last February. Rochester, New York, saw the largest decrease in overall inventory, followed by Buffalo, New York; Seattle, Washington and Omaha, Nebraska, where each had a decline of more than one-third in terms of homes for sale.