Top 10 Fastest Real Estate Markets in 2013

Redfin has come out with an interesting new metric for analyzing how fast moving real estate markets in the country. They have captured the flash sales, those homes that have gone to contract in under 24 hours after the initial listing, in major markets across the country.

As inventories tighten and buyers have returned to the market, we are seeing the days of people pouncing on homes the minute they are listed, very reminiscent of the early parts of the 2000′s. Over the past 5 months, Phoenix was by far the leader in this category with 540 flash sales, followed by Chicago with 261. Portland, Oregon brought up the rear of the list at 115.

Numbers like these have to make real estate agents salivate and start beating the bushes for listings. It is a profitable storm, homes that move quickly with no marketing costs. A few months of these hitting the market and agents will forget their abject fear of taking a listing that they experienced over the past few years.

Rank    City            # Flash Sales
1       Phoenix, AZ             540
2       Chicago, IL             261
3       Houston, TX             188
4       Dallas, TX              184
5       Austin, TX              163
6       San Diego, CA           135
7       Los Angeles, CA         132
8       Sacramento, CA          128
9       Denver, CO              115
10      Portland, OR            115