What do people think about realtor.com's recent top 10?

[Maggie L.]

Hey all,

The news that St Louis, Missouri is the #2 hot market according to Realtor.com has been generating a lot of buzz - my investor clients and other people working in RE keep telling me they're seeing the news all over social media.

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2015/12/02...

I'd be curious to hear other investors' perspective on realtor.com's top 10  

http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-10-real-est...

I've been watching the trends for things like Days on Market for a while now so this didn't exactly come as a surprise, and personally I don't see it changing my investment strategy as a buy-and-hold investor.  As a real estate agent I try to discuss a lot of metrics (DOM, %list price, number of expired/withdrawns) at the regional as well as neighborhood or block level, so I hope my clients take this as another piece of information to consider when investing.  But, I  could also see this appealing to some investors, especially out of state investors trying to find a market.  Alternatively, I could see people concerned about inflated prices backing off from these markets.

I've got some definite opinions (St Louis is very block by block and there are still a lot of opportunities out there) but I'd be interested in hearing other's thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

Maggie

[Phillip Davis]

I completely agree with Maggie. I just bought my first duplex in the city, and I was sweating bullets because a few block in either direction can make a difference -- and I grew up in the St. Louis area!  Some neighborhoods are perfectly priced others are just a bit too expensive and some class C's are cheek by jowl with great neighborhoods. This seems to be one area where local knowledge is really needed!