10 U.S. metro areas where homes are selling the fastest—none of them are in Florida
Creditnews Research, an independent research house, released its new ranking of the fastest-selling housing markets in the U.S.
The report analyzed the top 100 largest metros in the U.S. by population to determine the country's fastest-selling housing markets and used data sourced from Zillow to establish the number of days before a listing goes into sale-pending status.
To do a pre-Covid versus 2024 comparison, the study used metrics from January 2020 to January 2024.
All of the top 10 cities on the list are on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Five of the top 10 fastest-selling metros were also among the top areas that lost the most per-capita housing inventory since the beginning of the pandemic.
Florida had one of the strongest housing markets during the pandemic, according to CNBC's America's Top States for Business ranking, but not a single city in the state ranked in Creditnews Research's top 10. It's a signal that the housing market in the Sunshine State isn't what it used to be.
No. 1 fastest-selling housing market: Hartford, Connecticut
As of January 2024, the fastest-selling housing market in the U.S. is Hartford, Connecticut.
The metro area's median "days-to-pending" was eight days, down from 52 days in January 2020. This was the biggest percentage drop (-84.62%) of all the metros in the study. The state also had the second-biggest decline in per-capita housing inventory (-67.20%) since 2020.
Hartford's cost of living is 6% higher than the national average, while housing expenses are 2% lower, according to PayScale.
Despite lower housing costs, the average amount that residents pay in utilities in Hartford is 26% higher than the national average, and groceries are 2% higher.
The average monthly rent in Hartford is $1,501, while home prices are around $429,687, according to RentCafe.
In 2023, Hartford was one of Realtor.com's top 10 markets of the year. It is known as the world's insurance capital because it is home to the headquarters of more than 100 insurance companies.
Top 10 fastest-selling housing markets
- Hartford, Conn.
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Syracuse, N.Y.
- Harrisburg, Penn.
- Richmond, Va.
- Grand Rapids, Mich.
- New Haven, Conn.
- Boston, Mass.
- Columbus, Ohio
- Worcester, Mass.
Rochester, New York, has the second fastest-selling housing market in the U.S., according to Creditnews Research.
The city, located in upstate New York, has a median days-to-pending of nine days. The nine days represent a decline of 73.53% compared to January 2020. Rochester also had the fifth-largest percentage drop in inventory per capita compared to pre-covid.
Unlike New York City, the cost of living in Rochester, NY, is 21% lower than the state average and the same as the national average, according to RentCafe.
Rochester is 24.4% less expensive than New York City, and the average Rochester home value is $230,034, up 9.4% over the past year, according to Zillow.
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