Hooksett, New Hampshire is one of the 2022 hottest zip codes in the US.
Move over Colorado Springs. This year, one of America’s most historic regions is the newest home-buying hotspot, with New England ZIP codes representing more than half of the 2022 Top 10 list, according to Realtor.com’s eighth annual ZIP Code Report released today. In these ZIPs, homes sold for just over a week (8 days) and received nearly four times as many buyer views (3.7) as regular listings.
To help buyers better understand if they’re buying in a hot market, Realtor.com now offers “Hot Market Insights” listings that show how quickly homes in that neighborhood are selling and how popular they are compared to other properties in the area and across the country.
A key theme in this year’s Hot Market rankings is domestic shoppers’ interest in out-of-the-way zip lines, including relatively affordable prices and convenient commutes to major East Coast cities. Here are the 2022 hottest zip codes in America, in ranking order:
- 14618 Brighton, New York
- 03062 Nashua, New Hampshire
- 43085 Worthington, Ohio
- 03038 Derry, New Hampshire
- 04062 Windham, Maine
- 18017 Worthington, Ohio
- 37604 Johnson City, Tennessee
- 03106 Hooksett, New Hampshire
- 02760 North Attleboro, Massachusetts
- 04210 Auburn, Maine
“With housing budgets shrinking every month, inflation and mortgage rates squeezed, this year’s aggressive buyers are breathing new life into the competition for homes in historic areas like New England,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. Our ranking of the 2022 Hottest Zips shows that many Americans are trading downtown life for relatively affordable commutes to big cities in order to prioritize homeownership while building their careers.
She added, “As the housing market picks up again, homebuyers in the competitive Hottest Zip may need to take extra steps to win. It all starts with understanding the local market, and buyers can use Realtor.com’s Hot Market Insights to arm themselves with knowledge that will be key to success when deciding where, when and how to make an offer.”
With Realtor.com’s Hot Market Insights released today, the “Neighborhood” section of property listings on Realtor.com will now show home buyers if they are buying in a hot market. Home buyers can click a button to learn more about their local housing market, including how fast homes are selling and how many more viewings they’re getting.
Key trends driving home buying demand in 2022’s hottest zips
In the year Many Americans are putting pressure on their finances due to the whirlwind of economic changes so far in 2022, including rising mortgage rates. Coupled with higher home prices, increasing affordability challenges are forcing many buyers to get creative if they want to beat the competition without breaking their budget.
Home shoppers are doing just that in the hottest zip codes of 2022, with nine of the top 10 making the list for the first time in its eight-year history, while eight Northeast zips made their debuts. Six of these newcomers are located in New England, offering buyers a balance of new opportunities with historic charm. An average of 13.4% of homes in 10 were built before 1939, compared to just 11.6% nationally.
New England is a new home-buying destination for big-city transplants.
Based on the trend of migration among prospective buyers looking at Realtor.com listings, many of the top 10 new listings are attracting homebuyers looking to move from high-priced big cities on the East Coast. In the first half of the year, at least one large East Coast city, Boston, New York or Washington, D.C., was among the top five sources of buyers looking at listings in all 10 of the hottest ZIPs.
Buyers in these major metros are browsing Zips farther than in previous years, thanks to the widespread acceptance of telecommuting. Even for those with mixed schedules, many of this year’s hottest zips offer perfectly affordable housing affordability and a reasonable commute to big-city business centers. Of the six New England zip codes on the list, Boston can be reached in 2.5 hours or less.
Zip Spotlight – Number 2 03681 Nashua, New Hampshire: On the 2022 list, Nashua is only 42 miles from Boston, or within a 1.5 hour commute. In the first six months of 2022, listings in the ZIP drew more viewers from Boston (38%) than local buyers (32%). The surge in demand is fueling competition for homes in Nashua, where listings received 4.6 times more views in the first half of this year and sold in 23 days than the average American home. As a result, ZIP’s supply of active listings fell 26.9% year-to-date through June.
Affordability challenges drive demand in ZIPs that offer high-priced homes.
With rising inflation and higher costs for housing and day-to-day living costs, homebuyers have set their sights on places that offer good value for money, making value a key theme in this year’s most popular zip codes. The average price per square foot in the 10 neighborhoods was 8.7% lower than in June.
Among the ZIPs on this year’s list, the median asking price ($432,000) in June was 4% below the U.S. median list price of ($450,000). At the same time, driven by increased demand, home prices in the hottest ZIPs accelerated year-over-year ( +18.6%) increased prices compared to nationally (16.9%).
Zip Spotlight – Number 8 03106 Hooksett, New Hampshire: Hooksett, New Hampshire, which comes in at No. 8 on this year’s list, is 59 miles from Boston. Hooksett’s median list price ($482,000) as of June is higher than the U.S. median, but more affordable than the Boston metro area ($759,000). Additionally, Hooksett homes tend to have more square footage (2,008, on average) than the typical American listing (1,887). In the year In the first half of 2022, 26.5% of Hooksett listers came from Boston.
Millennial homeowners are financially prepared for success in the hottest zip.
Now between the ages of 25 and 44, Millennials are a key group of home owners looking to be both first-time and repeat buyers. This generation is ready and willing to pursue home buying opportunities in the hottest ZIPs with strong financial qualifications.
Millennials, ages 25 to 34 ($83,782 versus $70,510) and 34 to 45 ($100,966 versus $89,365) earn more than the national average, making the top 10. On average, buyers in the hottest ZIPs fare better with higher credit scores (742 vs. 728) and larger down payments (15% vs. 14.2%) than the average American homebuyer.
Millennials’ strong financial footing is paying off when it comes to achieving homeownership in 10. In fact, a higher share of millennials became homeowners in these ZIPs (57.1%) on average than in the U.S. overall (51.3%).
Zip Spotlight – Number 1 14618 Brighton, New York 14618 is the top ZIP in the Rochester metro area for this year’s first, and has now been represented by other ZIPs on the list for three years in a row. The growing popularity of Rochester zips like 14618 can be attributed in part to their success in the buyer’s area.
Compared to the US average, ZIP 14618 has higher homeownership rates than millennials (56.9% vs. 51.3%) and overall (70.8% vs. 65.2%). Local buyers also have strong criteria, with a typical down payment of 15.7% and a credit score of 745, as well as a higher average income than the U.S. average ($106,150 vs. $72,465).
