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These New England communities were red-hot on Zillow in 2022
A New Hampshire town landed in the top three.
There’s no place like Kansas. There’s no place like Kansas.
At least that’s what Zillow searchers are saying.
Prairie Village, Kan., a Kansas City suburb with about 22,000 residents and upscale shopping, topped Zillow’s list of the most popular markets for searchers in 2022.
“The Kansas City metro is one of a host of Midwest markets still seeing robust competition for houses while the market is cooling rapidly in others,” Zillow researchers said in the report, released Wednesday. “Mortgage payments as a share of income are less than the 30% threshold where housing costs become a financial burden, and the years needed for renters to save up for a down payment are far lower than the national average. Demand is strong as homes in the Kansas City metropolitan area went pending in less than two weeks in November, compared to 22 days for the nation overall, and page views increased 45% from last year.”
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Rounding out the top three were Derry, N.H., and Bon Air, Va., near Richmond. Zillow described Derry as “a charming New England town less than 45 minutes from downtown Boston.” Is Zillow driving at 3 a.m.?
This is a departure from other reports contending that folks looking to leave Boston are headed to Maine.
Zillow analyzed thousands of ZIP codes within the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas to create a ranking of the site’s most popular U.S. cities. The company said it crunched its rankings based on Zillow page-view traffic, available housing inventory, sales, price appreciation, and other housing barometers that indicate consumer demand.
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The Zillow report said the findings reflect a dramatic shift away from the West Coast and perhaps a desire for a shorter commute: Grand Rapids, Mich., was ranked the most popular large city (with a population over 200,000) and Omaha, Neb., came in third behind Richmond, Va.
A posh city on the Missouri line and a Michigan hotspot known for its foodie scene and breweries may have snagged those top spots, but several New England communities garnered high rankings in their own categories. Here they are:
Most popular seaside town
➡️ No. 1: Beverly
➡️ No. 2: Gloucester
No. 3: Newport, Ore.
Most popular small town
No. 1: Prairie Village, Kan.
➡️ No. 2: Windham, N.H.
No. 3: Hockessin, Del.
Most popular vacation town
No. 1: Lavallette, N.J.
No. 2: Indian Rocks Beach, Fla.
No. 3: South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Top college town
No. 1: Tempe, Ariz. (Arizona State University)
➡️ No. 2: Smithfield, R.I. (Bryant University)
No. 3: Bowling Green, Ohio (Bowling Green State University)
Most popular large city
No. 1: Grand Rapids, Mich.
No. 2: Richmond, Va.
No. 3: Omaha, Neb.
Most popular retirement town
No. 1: Dunedin, Fla.
No. 2: Sarasota, Fla.
No. 3: St. Pete Beach, Fla.
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