Smaller Cities With Sellers' Markets

In hot coastal markets like San Jose, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Seattle, supply is growing by double-digits and sales are slowing, but in some smaller, inland cities, markets are becoming more competitive.

Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Rochester, N.Y., Greensboro, N.C., Akron, Ohio, Richmond, Va., and Buffalo, N.Y. are heating up in housing, according to Redfin's latest study. Homes in these markets are below the national median of $300,000. Atlanta remains a top domestic migration destination based on Redfin user searches, moving up from the fifth-most in the third quarter of 2017 to the second-most in the third quarter of 2018. Local agent Claryssa McEnany of Wilmington, Del. explains what she's experiencing, “Competition in Wilmington has become fierce and often buyers have to offer over asking and compete against three to six other offers,” adding, “I’m working with several buyers moving to the area from New Jersey who have expressed that they want to escape the higher property taxes that they can no longer fully deduct.”

To find the markets that are still heating up we ranked the top 25 metro areas with populations of at least 500,000 people according to three indicators of a competitive seller’s market, based on data for the four weeks ending October 14, compared with the same period a year earlier: Declines in the number of homes for sale (inventory), increases in the share of homes going under contract within two weeks of their market debut, increases in the share of homes selling for more than their list price.

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