If you’re in the market for a new home, be prepared for a bidding war because it’s a seller’s market.
Prospective homebuyers across the U.S. are shelling out big bucks for homes during the pandemic, with remote workers and their desire for more luxurious homes helping to fuel the demand.
Insurify, a personal finance website, evaluated 46 states across three metrics used by Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate brokerage platform, to identify these real estate bidding battlezones. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming did not receive scores due to the unavailability of those states’ data.
The first metric is months of supply, calculated by dividing inventory by home sales. The resulting quotient indicates how long it would take supply to be bought up if no new homes come on the market. The second metric is the share of homes sold above list price during a given time period. The third metric is the number of homes that went under contract within two weeks of their listing date.
Here, in ascending order, are Insurify's top 10 most competitive real estate markets:
10. Virginia
With the state’s real estate market 25% more competitive than the national average in 2020, homes in Virginia are selling like hotcakes at 37.34% above list price.
9. Colorado
Offering fresh air and outdoor activities, Colorado’s competitive real estate market easily beat out the national average by 25%. Colorado homes sold at 34.45% above list price, with an average of 1.94 months of supply.
8. Idaho
The winters are cold in Idaho, and home sales were just as brisk with the state’s real estate market 27% more competitive than the national average. Idaho homes sold at 29.51% above list price, with an average of 1.30 months of supply.
7. Indiana
The novel coronavirus has supercharged the Indiana real estate market, which was 28% more competitive than the national average in 2020. Indiana homes sold at 25.24% above list price, with an average of 1.23 months of supply.
6. Minnesota
With a real estate market 29% more competitive than the national average, the Land of 10,000 Lakes boasts an equally impressive number of residential boom towns, Insurify says. Minnesota homes sold at 41.87% above list price in 2020, with an average of 1.73 months of supply.
5. Utah
Utah’s scenic wonders and suburban ski-town communities are a magnet for prospective homebuyers. The state’s real estate market is 31% more competitive than the national average, with homes selling at 40.67% above list price.
4. Oregon
If you’re looking to get away from it all, Oregon is the place for you. The state has an abundance of rural properties set amid the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest, but you'll have to outbid your competitors to live there. The real estate market in Oregon is 32% more competitive than the national average, with homes selling at 38.87% above the national average in 2020.
3. Kansas
Kansas is Superman’s Midwestern hometown, and it can be yours, too. Just be ready for a bidding war if you want to live there because the Kansas housing market is 32% more competitive than the national average. Homes were selling at 27.16% above the national average in 2020, and 55 homes per month were sold within two weeks of the listing date.
2. Nebraska
Low interest rates meant big savings for prospective homebuyers looking for a slice of authentic Americana in this Midwestern state last year, but the real estate market was 40% more competitive than the national average. There was an average of 1.13 months of supply in 2020, and homes were selling at 38.80% above the national average, with 68 homes per month sold within two weeks of the listing date.
1. Washington
Home to Microsoft, which now permits its employees to work remotely from the suburban neighborhood of their choice, Washington’s real estate market exceeds the national average by 43%. There was an average of 1.27 months of supply in 2020.
The full report can be viewed here.
