California Still Reigns on Hottest Markets List

As 2016 rolls to a close, California ends the year the same way it started it: As the dominant state on Realtor.com’s monthly list of hottest housing markets.

For December’s hottest markets list, California occupied eight of the top 10 slots, with San Francisco in first place—only Dallas (in fourth place) and Denver (in seventh place) broke the state’s monopoly. Yet Realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke noted that other states were showing activity that demanded attention.

“While California closed out our latest ranking still firmly in control of the hottest markets, the Midwest and Florida are both seeing substantial improvement,” said Smoke. “Pent-up demand and robust economic growth combined with limited supply will keep California tight in 2016, but more markets will challenge them as demand improves elsewhere.”

Realtor.com also reported that the median list price in December, $228,000, down one percent from November but up nine percent from a year ago. Listing inventory was down seven percent from the previous month, while the 93-day median age of inventory was up 11 percent from November but down seven percent from last year.