Moving to in and around Boston? Turns out you may not be alone.
Beantown and the surrounding New England area are among the most popular places for home buyers to live in America. That's according to Realtor.com's recently released Hottest Zip Codes report.
In fact, eight of the top ten zip codes on the list are in the northeast. A bit surprising, since the consistently affordable Midwest and destination-heavy South each have only one hot zip code on the list.
And, obviously, the West Coast, the most expensive housing region in the U.S. was nowhere to be found. Why? Realtor.com said, "affordability concerns have pushed buyer interest elsewhere."
The eighth annual zip codes list is based on Realtor.com's economic team analyzing 29,000 zip codes across the U.S. where homes are selling the fastest and getting the most views on its site. The list comes as there's a cooling housing market in the U.S. while industry experts debate if there's a recession or correction, surging interest rates and still high home prices.
"A lot of buyers are looking for affordability and they are surprisingly finding it in pockets up and down the East Coast," Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale told USA TODAY.
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Top 10 hottest zip codes
For a third year, East Coast markets dominate Realtor.com's hot zip code list as the top zip code this year is 14618 in Brighton, N.Y., located in Rochester, New York’s third-largest metro area. It has a median listing price of a home at $275,000 and median listing of six days on the market.
Hale said besides affordability, this year's top 10 zip code locales are a few hours away major metros and attracting buyers from Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C.
In addition to their location outside of major markets, all 10 of hottest zip code markets offered more space for the money. Homes on the list had median square footage of 1,946, about 60 square feet more than the typical home for sale nationwide, the report added.
Also, these locales are proving to be good fit for hybrid and remote workers, said Kristina O'Donnell, a Philadelphia area-based realtor who noticed that zip code 18017 where Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour's drive away from Philly, is sixth on Realtor.com's list.
"You're getting more house for your money, probably a bigger at-home office space, more room for the kids and a yard," O'Donnell said. "That's better than being in a cramped apartment in New York, right?"