(Forbes) - California, it isn't all about you anymore.
The latest data from Realtor.com show the markets that have been hot, hot, hot for so long in Northern California have started to cool off.
Realtor.com looks at a combination of the cities that see the most search traffic on their website and the places where Days On Market has decreased considerably to predict which markets are gaining in popularity. From out of nowhere, Ohio has surged ahead of the crowd. Capital city Columbus has ranked at the top of the list while Akron and Canton came in at Nos. 16 and 19. Cleveland and Cincinnati, while they didn't make it in the top 20, were the large metro areas that showed the biggest gains since last year. For spring 2019, it is all about Ohio.
California has not disappeared completely with the Sacramento metro area ranking No. 4 and the perennially expensive Bay Area cities making it to No. 9. The biggest surprise with the Bay Area is that median list prices have seen a 3% decrease since last year, a sure sign that the market is meeting some headwinds. Though, with the number of tech IPOs in the pipeline the trends could reverse in a matter of months. For comparisons sake, here are the top ten cities that are showing the greatest level of interest from buyers along with the percent change in median list price and its actual value as of March 2019.
- Columbus, Ohio: 7% ($249,900)
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire: 3% ($539,000)
- Midland, Texas: -12% ($350,000)
- Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, California: 3% ($475,644)
- Stockton-Lodi, California: 6% ($399,888)
- Colorado Springs, Colorado: -3% ($399,500)
- Odessa, Texas: 28% ($285,000)
- Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana: 14% ($219,950)
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California: -3% ($920,000)
- Modesto, California: -2% ($350,000)
You'll notice Odessa has seen a surge of 28% in median list price. This could be because there are only about 475 homes for sale (in contrast to the 2,400 for sale in Columbus) so it could be just a side effect of small numbers in the cells. The other double-digit increase in Lafayette/West Lafayette also only has about 400 homes for sale so most likely the percentages are a reflection of how few homes are in the equation.
The biggest trend from this year's hot markets is simply a matter of affordability. With median list prices getting close to the $1 million mark in the Bay Area, something had to give. It is also telling that a few of the mid-sized cities that have climbed the ranks this year are known for having a growing arts scene and liberal vibe (Colorado Springs and Columbus) and a sizable amount of housing suitable for young people and growing families. I don't think Columbus is about to become the next San Francisco, but it could be a sign that the millennial buyers, the largest buying segment in the country, are setting their sights on untapped markets that will soon become dominant players in the real estate market.
