With rising temperatures and continued lack of inventory, this year’s spring homebuying season is expected to be one of the most competitive yet. Especially thirsty are buyers who have been shut out of the market in recent years, and the housing market is already far outpacing last year’s numbers in terms of prices and time on the market. That’s especially true in Boston, which had the seventh-hottest market in the United States in March, according to a new report from realtor.com.

In 36 markets out of the 100 largest in the country, homes are selling at least a week faster than this time last year. Boston’s rank of No. 7 is 14 spots higher than its February rank at No. 21.

“Nationally, homes are still moving faster than last March, but more critically, supply in the market is carrying baggage from even larger drops in the last two spring home-buying cycles,”said Javier Vivas, director of economic research at realtor.com. “The cumulative effect means it will be a languid search for most homebuyers this season as they face the most competitive, harshest conditions yet.”