By JOHN HOWELL

“Red hot.” Those were the words Phil Slocum used to describe the real estate market for 2015.

Slocum, of Slocum Real Estate and Insurance in Warwick, said his agency with 14 agents has seen a 40 percent increase in transactions year-to-date.

And, as surprising to Slocum as well as other realtors, the Providence-Warwick market is being called the hottest housing market for 2016.

“We’ve enjoyed a tremendous year of great activity,” he said.

Slocum says a number of factors have combined to help turn the market around from the recession, including continued low interest rates, reasonably priced homes, buyer confidence and a cleaning of distressed and foreclosed properties.

Slocum is not alone.

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors forecasts a banner year for 2015, with the trend continuing in the new year if factors remain relatively stable.

Monthly sales for the year were up from 2014 every month, and in two months more than 14 percent. In October, the most recent monthly report, 912 single-family homes were sold for an increase of 7.7 percent from last year. The median price was $224,750, down 3.1 percent from last October’s median price of $232,000.

The third-quarter, single-family sales for the state were 2,974, an increase of 12 percent from last year. Sales in Warwick were 358 for the quarter as compared to 325, an increase of 10.15 percent. The median price in Warwick was $188,000, up 7.4 percent.

It doesn’t look like the market is going to cool down, either.

On Dec. 2, realtor.com’s chief economist and data team predicted that Providence-Warwick would be the nation’s hottest housing market in 2016.

“In 2016, we expect single-family home sales in the Providence, RI Metropolitan Statistical Area to increase by more than 10 percent compared to 2015. Median single-family home prices are expected to increase by 10 percent,” reads the report.

It goes on to state that in recent years, sales and prices have been in line with national averages, and that unemployment is slightly better, although income is worse, than national averages.

“The high growth in sales expected for 2016 is driven by pent up demand and economic spillover from the nearby Boston MSA. Expected price growth in 2016 is related to this increased demand, but also influenced by limited supply including limited growth in new construction,” reads the report.

Ranked behind Providence-Warwick on a national level in the 10 upcoming hottest markets for 2016 are St. Louis in second, San Diego, Sacramento, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Charlotte, Virginia Beach-Norfolk and Boston-Cambridge-Newton.

Arthur Yatsko, president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, sees the market as approaching the prices that the state saw prior to the recession.

“We’re returning to a sense of normalcy,” he said. “Comfort levels are going up.”

With a lot of pent up demand and the continued low interest rates, he expects what has been seen in the current year will carry on into 2016.

On a national level, Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for realtor.com, said the housing market is expected to be moderate with growth as acceleration in existing home sales and prices slow to 3 percent year over year due to higher mortgage rates, tighter credit standards, and lower affordability.

“Next year’s moderate gains in existing prices and sales, versus the accelerated growth we’ve seen in previous years, indicate that we are entering a normal, but healthy housing market,” Smoke said in a release.

Realtor.com identified two age cohorts, 18-24 and 45-54, as having a bigger impact on the Providence market than other parts of the country. Asked about younger buyers in the market, Yatsko pointed to the state’s large college community, and suggested those students whose families have the resources are buying properties rather than renting.

Also, realtor.com found that inventory in this market moves six days faster than across of the country overall, with the median days on market being 75 as compared to 81.

It’s what Slocum is seeing.

“You’re seeing reasonably prices homes on the market for 30 to 40 days or less,” he said.

Slocum expects interest rates will climb, but he doesn’t expect it was chill the market. He expects rates to bump up by a quarter or half percent. With rates near 4 percent, “I still see incredibly attractive interest rates,” he said. He also expects a relatively consistent market in the foreseeable future with home prices increasing by 3 and 4 percent annually.

“Thank god you’re not seeing it jumping 10 and 15 percent,” he said.

“There’s no slowdown. It seems from everything I’ve read over the next three to five years, there’s going to be steady growth,” he said.