Why homebuyers are racing to this Pennsylvania port city

Homebuyers searching for a bargain have made a Pennsylvania port city one of the hottest housing markets in the country. Erie, Pennsylvania, is situated on Lake Erie and is the home of Pennsylvania's only Great Lakes port and the community's affordability and quality of life have helped vault it up the rankings of Realtor.com's hottest housing markets. The June edition of the hottest housing markets report ranked Erie second in the country, trailing only Hartford, Connecticut, which topped the list for the second consecutive month. The report gauges demand based on unique views per property on the Realtor.com platform, along with the pace of the market based on the number of days a listing remains active online. Erie, Pennsylvania, as seen from Lake Erie. In June, Erie attracted 3.3 times the national average number of viewers per property, while the average listing was sold in just 29 days – the same as Hartford and six days faster than a year ago. By contrast, the median U.S. home was on the market for 53 days before being sold in June. "The hotness in Erie is largely fueled by significant inventory scarcity," said Realtor.com senior economist Hannah Jones. "While other markets have seen some progress in inventory availability, Erie continues to see falling levels of for-sale listings. As a result, the market continues to heat up relative to the rest of the country," she said. The Northeast is the hottest region in the country and dominated the top 20 rankings. Erie, which has a population of about 91,000, has a median listing price of $239,000.