How fast can you sell a house? The answer depends on a number of things–location, condition of the property, foreclosure/short sale status, and the state of the market. Another important indicator is Days on Market (DoM)–essentially, the number of days it takes for a home to sell.
You can glean a lot from this statistic. The number of days on market is linked to the number of house hunters. If the number is high, people aren’t purchasing homes and the industry is in a slump. Conversely, if the number is low, the industry is thriving because there are homebuyers looking to purchase.
What Movoto Real Estate recently uncovered was that houses are selling at a faster rate than they were a year ago. We looked at nine of the 10 largest cities in the country, and found that compared to a year ago, houses sell 12 days faster. This time last year, it took 72 days for a house to sell. Today it takes 60 days. This difference is a strong indicator that consumers are starved for houses and competition for what little is available will increase.
The cause of the drop in DoM can be credited to the bare-bones state of inventory across the country. With more people looking for homes and fewer houses going on market, there is more competition. Bidder fisticuffs translates to:
- higher prices;
- cash offers; and
- a decrease in DoM.
Not to mince words, in today’s market homebuyers should move quickly or have their dream house vanish.
Below are 10 geographically diverse cities from across the nation in which homes are selling faster than they were a year ago. Some are among the nine cities we researched, while others are not.
Boston
The DoM for Beantown digs dropped by 13 percent in the past year. In June 2011, homes were on the market for 63 days. Now the median Days on Market rests at 55 days.
Chicago
This time 12 months ago Chi-Town homes were staying on the market for 90 days. Flash forward and houses are staying on the market for 85 days–that’s a 6 percent decrease.
Houston
The largest city in Texas saw a 16 percent decrease in the amount of time homes remain on the market. Today homes stay on the market for 65 days, compared to 77 days 12 months ago.
Los Angeles
The City of Angels saw a 14 percent decrease. Six months ago homes stayed on the market for 85 days. Right now, they are on the market for a median 56 days.
Miami
The weather isn’t the only thing that’s hot in The Capital of Latin America. The median days on market for a home in Miami dropped dramatically in the past year. Twelve months ago Miami’s DOM stood at 318 days. Today this figure is at 91 days. This is a staggering 71 percent decrease.
Nashville
Music City saw a 10 percent decrease. In June 2011 houses stayed on the market for 71 days. At the moment, houses are staying on market for 64 days.
Portland
Twelve months ago homes in the hipster capital of the world were on market for 70 days. Since then there has been a 20 percent decrease in the amount of time it takes to sell a house. Today the median days a house is on the market is 56 days.
Seattle
Seattle houses are selling 18 percent faster than they did this time last year. Twelve months ago homes in The Gateway to The Pacific sold in 61 days. At the moment, houses are going off market in 50 days.
Tucson
In Tucson homes are selling faster than they were a year ago. At the moment, the median DoM is 69 days. Last year this figure hovered at 78 days. A 12 percent decrease isn’t too shabby.
Washington
Homes in the Washington, DC area are on market for 62 days. When compared to June 2011, there has been a 7 percent decrease in the number of days on market. At that time, homes were on the market for 67 days.
