Compared to last year, the housing market this year has seen some big changes. Notably, people are moving inland from the large cities as the pandemic has created a coastal exodus, prompting apartment dwellers to seek more space and big yards.
Realtor.com released its hottest ZIP codes of 2020 report on Tuesday, which revealed that more towns in the Northeast made the list than last year.
“The hottest zip codes have bucked the national trend of a housing market slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Danielle Hale, realtor.com’s chief economist said in the report.
“Even during the pandemic, homes in the hottest markets were selling at a blistering pace, with the median days on market in all of the top neighborhoods being under a month,” Hale said. “Likewise, all of the hottest zip codes saw demand increase, with rising views per property on realtor.com compared to last year.”
Although the east coast was hit first and arguably the hardest by COVID-19, seven ZIP Codes from that area made the list – although outside of the bigger cities.
Views per property in the top ZIP codes were up 48% year over year, realtor.com said, making them 2.2 times as high as surrounding metro areas and 4.3 times the national average. Homes in these markets are on the market between seven and 25 days.
Another factor in these areas is affordability. The median listing price in the hottest ZIP codes was $335,000, up 1.8% year over year. Realtor.com noted that these prices were 15% cheaper than their surrounding metros, on average.
realtor.com said that it’s Millennials who would fare better in the hot ZIPs compared to other generations, noting the average Millennial home ownership rate among the top 10 ZIP codes is 53%.
Here are 2020’s hottest ZIP codes:
- 80911 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
- 43068 – Reynoldsburg, Ohio
- 14617 – Rochester, New York
- 02176 – Melrose, Massachusetts
- 04106 – South Portland, Maine
- 66614 – Topeka, Kansas
- 03051 – Hudson, New Hampshire
- 01602 – Worcester, Massachusetts
- 22152 – Springfield, Virginia
- 27604 – Raleigh, North Carolina
