48% of Homes Sell in Less Than a Month

Forty-eight percent of homes sold in March were on the market for less than a month, according to housing data from the National Association of REALTORS®. The average for all sold properties, though, was a little higher, at 34 days. Still, that’s down significantly from 47 days a year ago, according to NAR. Nondistressed homes spent a median of 32 days on the market, which is the shortest length of time since NAR began tracking such data in May 2011.

More good news: Home Sales Zoom to Highest Pace in Decade

Realtor.com® reveals that the following metro areas had listings on the market the shortest amount of time in March:

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: 24 days
San Francisco-Oakland-Howard-Hayward, Calif.: 25 days
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: 28 days
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.: 28 days
Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.: 31 days

With strong buyer demand supporting shorter times on market, home prices are rising as well. The median existing-home price for all housing types was $236,400 in March, up 6.8 percent from a year ago. “Last month’s swift price gains and the remarkably short time a home was on the market are directly the result of the homebuilding industry’s struggle to meet the dire need for more new homes,” says NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “A growing pool of all types of buyers is competing for the lackluster amount of existing homes on the market. Until we see significant and sustained multi-month increases in housing starts, prices will continue to far outpace incomes and put pressure on those trying to buy.”