Market Trends

Short List

The Hot House

Are you looking for inventory that turns over quickly? Realtor.com broke down the home and neighborhood features that attract buyers quickly and translate into the shortest number of days on market.

That unicorn house is a Spanish-style home, between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet, priced at between $200,000 and $250,000, with stainless steel appliances, a good school nearby and city views. Seeing as this mythical home is unlikely to actually exist, we’’ll break it down for you.

Spanish-style homes are far and away the fastest-sellers, spending just 47 days on the market. But that’’s likely due to the fact that these rare homes are primarily located in coastal California cities where a particularly sturdy cardboard box could probably fetch multiple offers right now.

Dismissing that outlier, a traditional home is the next-best option, spending 84 days on market, followed by a ranch at 95 days.

The best location feature is a good school nearby. Homes spend 76 days on the market when that’’s the case, followed by proximity to a stadium with 77 days.

The hottest size was a modest 1,500 to 2,000-square-foot home, which stayed on the market 86 days, compared to the 2,000 to 2,500 range that remained on the market for 90 days. More than 10,000 square feet is a long stay at 173 days, the longest time on market in the survey.

The fastest-selling price point is that not-quite-starter price of $200,000 to $250,000, beating out the starter price of $150,000 to $200,000 by three days, averaging 83 days to 86 days, respectively.

Finally, it always helps to include those kitchen features in listings: Homes with stainless steel sell in 79 days, while those with granite countertops sell in 82 days and open-kitchen homes sell in 83 days.

Which Features Sell a Home Most Quickly?
Feature Number of Days
1,500-2,000-square-foot layout 86 days
Spanish-style architecture 47 days
Proximity to good schools 76 days
Stainless steel appliances 79 days