Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
As the spring real estate market begins to heat up, realtor.com reports that the national inventory has increased an average of 10%. However, not all cities are equal, and some have increased much more than others. Here are the top 10 cities that have seen the largest increase of houses coming onto the busy spring market.
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This could develop into a hot spring market because interest rates have also dropped slightly making it all the more attractive to buyers. Last week, the national 30-year fixed rate mortgages dropped from 4.34% from 4.41%. That's a good mortgage rate but still a little high compared to the 3.43% rate at the same time last year.
Here are the 10 top cities for increasing the number of residential houses on the market:
Stockton, CA, has seen a year on year increase of 101%. This city appears to be indicative of what is driving the market. This hard hit foreclosure market is seeing another up tick in foreclosures hitting the market. It would appear the banks continue to manage their way out of the foreclosure disaster by brining properties onto the market over a period of time instead of flooding the market all at one time. There remains a shadow inventory still needing to be worked through.
Fresno, CA, where the year on year residential inventory is up 53%.
Bakersfield, CA, here the year on year residential inventory is up 52%.
Occupying the top three spots clearly shows that California is again leading the real estate market.
Orlando, FL, up 49% year on year, this represents opportunity on the other side of the country.
Riverside, CA, where the year on year residential inventory is up 46%.
Phoenix, AZ, herethe year on year residential inventory is up 45%.
Oakland, CA, yet another California city that is seeing increased listings of 42%.
Minneapolis, MN, a midwest city seeing an active market with a year on year increase of 38%.
Lakeland, FL, back to the southeast with a year on year residential market increase of 38%.
Buffalo, NY, is the only northeast city to make the top ten with an annual increase of 38%.
Interestingly, the last three cities are all at 38%. Could this be where the national average is heading?
As recent as January of this year, the forecast was for residential real estate inventory to continue declining and prices to continue to rise. In most places, prices are continuing to edge up but at a slower rate than over the past two years. As long as prices continue to increase, more inventory will come onto the market. As more inventory comes onto the market, it will keep prices from racing upward out of control. It's called a balanced market.
About the author: Brian Kline has been investing in real estate for more than 30 years and writing about real estate investing for seven years. He also draws upon 25 plus years of business experience including 12 years as a manager at Boeing Aircraft Company. Brian currently lives at Lake Cushman, Washington. A vacation destination, a few short miles from a national forest in the Olympic Mountains with the Pacific Ocean a couple of miles in the opposite direction.
