America's Five Hottest Housing Markets

In January, Manchester, New Hampshire, was once again the U.S.'s hottest housing market, a newly published report by Realtor.com showed.

The city reclaimed the top spot after being sidelined by Rockport, Illinois, in December and Springfield, Massachusetts, in November.

Why It Matters

Homebuyers across the U.S. are facing a widespread affordability crunch that has kept them on the sidelines of the market over the past few years. While growing inventory in parts of the country offers buyers more options and is likely to slow the pace of price growth in these regions, other parts are seeing demand grow while inventory shrinks further.

These markets, according to Realtor.com, are the hottest in the country—which benefits sellers much more than buyers.

What To Know

The five hottest housing markets in the country last month, according to Realtor.com, were Manchester, New Hampshire; Hartford, Connecticut; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Norwich, Connecticut; and Worcester, Massachusetts.

Manchester, Realtor.com experts say, is facing high demand from buyers at the same time as inventory remains low and continues shrinking, making the market extremely competitive.

Homes in the city received two offers on average in December, according to Redfin data, and sold in about 31 days. Realtor.com reported that in January, homes lingered on the market for 46 days before being sold, much lower than the national median of 73 days.

Ongoing high demand in the city has kept inventory levels from recovering to their pre-pandemic levels. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, there were a total of 251 active listings in Manchester-Nashua in January, down from 775 in January 2019.

Home prices in the city, as a result of these dynamics, are booming. The median list price of a home in Manchester was $579,000 in January, up almost 4 percent compared to a month ago and almost 2.5 percent year over year, Realtor.com reported. The median sale price of a home in the city was $449,966 in December, up 8.2 percent compared to a year earlier, Redfin reported.

Why is demand for housing so high in Manchester? The city is only 55 miles away from Boston, Realtor.com said, and offers a good school system, a thriving local economy and a good quality of life, with lots of outdoor activities. On top of that, residents do not have to pay sales or income taxes.

The other four cities on Realtor.com's hottest markets list are there because they're also seeing high demand and rising prices amid low inventory. In January, home prices slid 2.2 percent year over year across the U.S. However, in the hottest markets, prices climbed by 1.5 percent. In these markets, properties listed on Realtor.com were viewed three times more than at the national level.

What People Are Saying

Hannah Jones, the senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com, said in statements accompanying the report: "The Midwest and Northeast have reigned supreme as homes to most of the country's hottest markets since mid-2022, when mortgage rates picked up steam … High demand and scarce inventory conditions drive views per property higher, upping the competition for homes in the hottest markets, and leading to snappier home sales."

What Happens Next

The cities in Realtor.com's hottest markets list have been among the hottest markets in the country for the past several months, and they are likely to stay there. Home prices are expected to continue inching up this year across the country even as mortgage rates are forecast to ease, and inventory is unlikely to suddenly boom in these cities.