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34 MILLENNIALS SEEKING COST- EFFICIENT ZIP CODES One of America's most historic regions is its newest homebuying hotspot, with New England ZIP codes representing over half of 2022's top 10 list in the eighth annual Realtor. com Hottest ZIP Codes Report. In these ZIP codes, homes sold in just over 8 days and received nearly four times more buyer views than a typical U.S. listing. To help buyers better understand if they're shopping in a hot market, Realtor.com now provides "Hot Market Insights" on listings that show how fast 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 of this year's white-hot ranking is demand from out-of-ZIP home shoppers, driven by factors including relative affordability and convenient travel to big East Coast cities. e 2022 Hottest ZIP Codes in America, in rank order, are: » 14618 Brighton, New York » 03062 Nashua, New Hampshire » 43085 Worthington, Ohio » 03038 Derry, New Hampshire » 04062 Windham, Maine » 18017 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania » 37604 Johnson City, Tennessee » 03106 Hooksett, New Hampshire » 02760 North Attleboro, Massachusetts » 04210 Auburn, Maine "With rising inflation and mortgage rates squeezing monthly housing budgets, this year's determined buyers are breathing new life into competition for homes in historic areas like New England," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com. "Our 2022 Hottest ZIPs ranking illustrates how many Americans are redefining their priorities to achieve homeownership while building their careers, by trading downtown life for relatively affordable areas with reasonable part-time commutes to big cities. Even as the housing market resets, home shoppers in the competitive Hottest ZIPs may need to take extra measures 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 the launch of Realtor.com's "Hot Market Insights" announced, the "neighborhood" section of property listings on Realtor.com will now show homebuyers if they are shopping in a hot market. Home shoppers can click the button to learn more about the local housing market, including how fast homes are selling and how many more views they get compared to others in the area. ese insights are updated each month to provide buyers with a timely view of the competition they're likely to face. Key trends driving homebuying demand in the 2022 Hottest ZIP codes Many Americans are feeling the strain on their finances due to the whirlwind of economic shifts that have occurred so far in 2022, including mortgage rate hikes. Combined with record-high home prices, rising affordability challenges are forcing many buyers to get creative if they want to beat the competition without breaking their budgets. Home shoppers are doing just that in the 2022 Hottest ZIP Codes, with nine of the top 10 making the list for the first time in the ranking's eight-year history, including eight northeastern ZIPs making their debut. Six of these newcomers are located in New England, offering buyers a balance of new opportunities with historic charm. On average across the top 10, 13.4% of homes were built before 1939, compared to just 11.6% nationwide. Affordability challenges drive demand in relatively small ZIP codes offering high-value homes As a result of rising inflation and higher costs for housing and everyday expenses, homebuyers have set their sights on areas that offer good bang for their buck, making value a key theme among this year's hottest ZIPs. Controlling for home size, the average price per square foot in the top 10 was 8.7% lower than in their surrounding metro areas in June. Among the ZIPs on this year's list, the average asking price ($432,000) was 4.0% lower than the U.S. median listing price in June ($450,000). At the same time, driven by the rise in demand, home prices across the hottest ZIP codes grew at a faster year-over-year pace (+18.6%) than listing prices nationwide at 16.9%. e hottest ZIP codes offer buyers more space As companies are slow to bring employees back into the office, remote and hybrid work arrangements continue to put pressure on relatively affordable markets with spacious homes. e pandemic-fueled shift in working Journal