May's Hottest Real Estate Markets

Summer Real Estate Market Heating Up

Temperatures are rising, but there will be no lazy lolling on the beach for would-be home buyers this summer.

According to new data from realtor.com®, prices for residential real estate soared to new heights in May—and homes were swiftly scooped off the market by a lucky few.

Earlier this spring, the nationwide median home list price pushed above $250,000 for the first time. Now at $275,000, the median list price is 10 percent higher than one year ago. And prices show no signs of easing. In addition to rising home prices, inventory also increased slightly from April to May with 560,000 new listings, but that was still a drop of 11 percent from May of last year. Tough news for buyers, but great news for real estate professionals!

With prices rising and inventory still moving quickly, this gives real estate pros an opportunity to wow their seller clients with serious buyers who are willing to pay the higher price for their dream home. To add to the good news, properties are selling five days (8 percent) faster than this time last year, and two days faster than last month.

Javier Vivas, manager of economic research at realtor.com®, sums it up nicely: "With a record number of home buyers out there, this is officially the most competitive, fastest-moving spring housing market in decades."

Check out more highlights in the infographic below and read the full article on the realtor.com website.

How do you keep up with this fast paced market? Leverage technology! Click here to learn about the various tools available to help you connect with consumers at every stage of the real estate lifecycle, and stay in touch.