Average days on market differ from city to city, but according to Movoto.com, Houston listings' average days on market has decreased.

By Stephanie Sims

How fast agents sell homes depends on a number of things – location, condition of the property, foreclosure/short sale status and the state of the market. But a hugely important indicator is how many days a listing is on the market, which is directly linked to the number of consumers looking for a new home.

When Movoto Real Estate looked at nine of the 10 largest cities in the U.S., the company discovered that compared to a year ago, houses now sell 12 days faster. This time last year, it took 72 days for a house to sell, and today it takes 60 days. In Houston specifically, at this time a year ago, homes were on the market for 77 days; now, that amount of time has decreased to 65 days.

Houston saw a 16 percent decrease in the amount of time homes remain on the market. Today, homes stay on the market for 65 days compared to 77 days 12 months ago.

This evidence supports recent reports that multiple offers are now being received, and is a strong indicator that competition for homes available will increase. In a market with increasing competition, this leads to higher prices, an increasing number of cash offers and a decrease in days on market for listings.