It seems remarkable, given that Rhode Island is usually listed as 50th when it comes to national rankings, that the Providence-Warwick be identified as the hottest housing market for 2016.

The ranking by economists and the data team at realtor.com came as a surprise to some of the state’s senior Realtors. While Realtors have seen market conditions improve since 2008 and the Great Recession, the Rhode Island housing market hasn’t carried the headlines as “booming.” Median prices have crept up, days that properties are on the market have declined, and the number of sales has increased.

One of the most heartening of statistics has been the decline in the number of distressed property sales. The Rhode Island Association of Realtors’ third quarterly report for single-family home sales shows a 24.1 percent decline in distressed property sales.

In reaching the conclusion that Providence-Warwick will be the nation’s hottest housing market, realtor.com looked at a number of factors, including the local economy, median home prices, availability of properties and demand. Analysts made a point of commenting on Rhode Island’s attraction to Boston-area buyers because of price and of two cohorts of buyers, those ages 18-25 and 45-54, as being factors.

The 18- to 25-year-old buyer jumped out for us.

This is contrary to everything we’ve heard. Rather than buying homes – even for that matter marrying – we hear story after story of college students living at home and staying at home after earning degrees because they can’t get a good-paying job.

One explanation offered by folks by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors is the number of out-of-state college students in the state. Some of these students and their parents are evidently discovering that buying a condo or home in Rhode Island is a better investment than renting. That’s a possible explanation, which from our perspective offers hope that some of these young people will make the Ocean State their home and buck the aging trend.

Of course, the realtor.com forecast is just that. It’s based on a number of assumptions, and even though this year’s housing market is “red hot” according to some Realtors, there’s no saying what’s going to happen in 2016. But it feels nice, nonetheless, when an out-of-state organization with a national perspective picks Rhode Island as the diamond in the rough.