Only 2 US regions have the most-envious 2026 zip codes for fourth consecutive year: new study

America’s hottest housing markets are all located in the Northeast and Midwest, according to a new ZIP code-level analysis of the most in-demand housing markets.Realtor.com released its hottest ZIP codes report for 2026, which found that those two regions swept the top 10 rankings for the fourth consecutive year.Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, told FOX Business in an interview that “a lot of these ZIP codes fall in suburbs that are on the outer ring of major metro areas like Boston, New York, Philadelphia.”“It kind of paints this picture that you can still commute to the busy city center for your job, but you’re taking your big city income where you can get a little more bang for your buck, more space, more of that established suburban quiet life,” she said.Housing supply in the communities that comprised the top 10 of this year’s rankings is especially tight, as Jones noted that inventory levels are running about 60% below pre-pandemic levels in those communities – whereas inventories across the country are just 11% below where they were before the pandemic.She also said that many home shoppers in these markets are coming from within the metro area they’re closest to, as opposed to being from outside the region to move, adding that “we’re not seeing as much of that cross-country migration type of buyer demand.”Another characteristic of those markets is that the scarcity is driving buyers to pay above asking price, with nine of the top 10 seeing homes sell at or above asking price with an average sale-to-list ratio of 103.8%.Around the country, the typical home sold for about 2.3% below its list price in the first half of 2026.Buyers are also putting more money down when purchasing a home in the ZIP codes that make up the top 10 rankings as opposed to the national average.“When we’re looking at these buyer profiles, we see that they tend to put down a lot as a down payment.

Across these 10 top ZIP codes, the typical...