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People shopping for a home this year appear to be seeking both spaciousness and affordability, according to a new list of America’s most-desirable zip codes from Realtor.com.
The website’s economics team identified the 10 “hottest” metropolitan areas in the country. Colorado Springs, CO and Reynoldsburg, OH top that list, which includes plenty of areas that don't often pop up in conversations about attractive real estate opportunities, the researchers said.
In those regions (fully listed below) they say demand is “surging and homes are flying off the market—sometimes within hours of being listed. These places tend to offer cheaper homes, or less expensive prices per square foot for those seeking more spacious abodes, than the rest of their respective suburbs—which themselves are bargains compared with the nearby cities.”
The researchers say it is likely that because people are spending more time at home, due to the COVID pandemic, they are looking for larger homes, sometimes in remote areas where social distancing is easier. Distance from place of employment also is less important now, they add, because so many people are indefinitely working from home.
Homes in these zip codes reportedly sold in an average of 18 days, about four weeks faster than in their respective metropolitan areas and roughly 51 days faster than properties in the rest of the country.
The list:
- Colorado Springs, CO(80911)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $306,500
Median list price within the city limits: $455,050 - Reynoldsburg, OH(43068)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $193,450
Median list price within the city limits: $193,450 - Rochester, NY(14617)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $162,450
Median list price within the city limits: $158,950 - Melrose, MA(02176)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $644,950
Median list price within the city limits: $644,950 - South Portland, ME(04106)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $350,050
Median list price within the city limits: $350,050 - Topeka, KS(66614)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $159,500
Median list price within the city limits: $132,500 - Hudson, NH(03051)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $440,000
Median list price within the city limits: $440,000 - Worcester, MA(01602)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $329,950
Median list price within the city limits: $315,050 - Springfield, VA(22152)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $509,950
Median list price within the city limits: $549,950 - Raleigh, NC(27604)
Median list price in the ZIP code: $287,950
Median list price within the city limits: $519,800
To build their list, the realtor.com economics team looked at zip codes in the 300 largest metropolitan areas (which include the main city and surrounding smaller urban areas, towns, and suburbs) from April through June of this year.
They ranked zip codes by which ones received the most page views per property on Realtor.com and had the fewest days on the market. Zip codes needed at least 13 listings per month to be included, and only the top zip code from each metro was included.
