Realtor.com has released data showing the ten top-searched real estate markets in 2010. While many real estate markets experienced extraordinary highs and lows in response to tax credits, low interest rates and price swings, consumer interest in real estate remained consistent.
Image by Ron Royals/Corbis
“Online search is a critical measure of interest in real estate, especially now that more than 90 percent of buyers search for their homes online,” says Realtor.com President, Errol Samuelson. “As the number one homes for sale website, searches on Realtor.com show us where the highest potential for activity is across the country. Changing conditions throughout 2010 in the sunshine states created more interest in real estate compared to other states that we hope leads to increased activity and sales in 2011.”
Las Vegas and Los Angeles came in as the first and second most searched markets every month in 2010, while Orlando, San Antonio and Miami tied as the third, fourth and fifth most searched cities respectively. Phoenix, San Diego, Austin, Tampa and Chicago, in that order, held the sixth through tenth positions as the most searched markets in 2010.
The top ten most searched real estate markets in 2010 were established based on the number of visitors that viewed properties in each Metro Service Area (MSA) in the United States from January 2010 to December 2010 on Realtor.com, the #1 homes for sale website operated by Move, Inc., (Nasdaq: MOVE), the leader in online real estate. Realtor.com was the number one most visited real estate website in 2010 in the online real estate website category(i).
In early 2010, home sales and prices rose throughout the country faster than they had for several years. This was largely in response to the Federal home buyer tax credit for first-time and repeat buyers. After the Federal home buyer tax credit expired at the end of April 2010, sales slowed throughout the country in summer and fall 2010 — even though mortgage rates remained low, and dropped below 4 percent in the fall. List prices and actual sale prices continued to fluctuate in response to sales, foreclosure, and other trends throughout 2010.