America’s Fastest Markets—Will You be Ready Without the Right Software?
Although the housing market has hit some rough spots in recent years, there are indications that things might start looking up. In many areas, the housing market is starting to pick up, and newly constructed homes are being sold faster than they have in years. Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia, calculated the speed at which homes are moving in many different markets and got some promising results.
The Quickest Markets
In order to determine how quickly the homes in a certain market are moving, Kolko calculated the percentage of homes up for sale on February 14, 2014 that were still on the market two months later (April 14). The fastest-moving markets had fewer homes that were still on the market, while the slower moving markets had more homes. Among the 100 largest US metros, the ten fastest markets (from highest to lowest) were:
- Oakland, CA
- San Jose, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Denver, CO
- San Diego, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Orange County, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Middlesex County, MA
National Trends
Nationwide, 55% of the homes for sale in February were still for sale in April. This means that the market is slightly quicker than it was in 2013, when the number was 56%. This drop is mostly driven by homes priced at the low end of the market; 49% of low-priced homes were still for sale after two months, while 62% of high-priced ones were. In addition, sales of the low-priced houses sped up more than any other price range from 2013 to 2014.
Local Changes
However, these national trends don’t always depict what’s happening on the local level. The fastest moving markets are in the Bay Area in California, where fewer than one-third of homes were still on the market after two months. This is good news for sellers and builders—fast-moving markets tend to have greater price gains. Unfortunately, while some markets are still moving quickly, they are beginning to slow a little; this is especially true in southern California.
Elsewhere, many markets are beginning to speed up; in New York the percentage of homes still on the market after two months dropped from 65% to 54%.
What it Means for Builders
Quick-moving markets are an indication of high demand. The faster a market moves, the more opportunities builders have to sell their homes. This means that a builder in a fast market (or one that is beginning to speed up) will need to build more, which can put strain on their business if they aren’t prepared. Keeping track of all the different subcontractors, projects, and logs can be time-consuming and difficult without the right software. A quality construction management information system can help you to keep track of all the logistics.
Here at ECL Software, we want to help you face your business’s growth with confidence—so if you are in a fast-moving market, check out our software today.
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