September 2022 Hottest Housing Markets: In Search of Affordability

Highlights
Manchester-Nashua, NH and Rochester, NY tied as the country’s hottest housing markets in September.
The top 20 hottest markets are spread out across 12 states, with three metros in both Indiana and in Massachusetts.
As prices begin to level off nationwide, affordability remains a key feature of September’s hottest markets with 14 markets below the national median listing price real estate housing market
There are no Western region markets on this month’s list again, for the fourth month in a row.
The St. Louis, MO metro area saw the largest increase in its Hotness ranking among larger metros compared to last year, climbing the 101 spots to rank as the 97th hottest US market in September.
Manchester-Nashua, NH and Rochester, NY tied for the top spot on the hottest housing markets list in September. This is the 10th time that Manchester-Nashua has ranked number one in the last year, and the third time for Rochester. Manchester-Nashua has been in the top 2 hottest markets since March 2021, holding the top spot a total of 15 times. Rochester held the top spot for the first time in June 2020, and has been ranked number one a total of 6 times.

Realtor.com’s Market Hotness rankings take into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique viewers per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com.

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Relatively Affordable Metros Sustain Demand
There are no West region markets on the list this month, a departure from the September 2016-2021 average of 7 Western hot markets. The popularity of Western markets tends to peak in the winter and wane in the warmer months, but these markets have not been absent from the September list altogether in the data’s history. Pricey Western markets have been replaced with more markets in the Northeast and Midwest, which account for 18 of the 20 hot markets.

Overall, 14 of September’s hottest markets had median listing prices below the national median. The average listing price for the 20 hottest markets ticked up from last month, reaching $364,000 in September, 14.8% lower than the national median. This month’s increase in average hot market listing price is due to the entrance of the Boston metro to the hot markets list. The median listing price in the number 18 ranked Boston metro in September was $742,000, skewing the list’s average price significantly higher. The Northeast in general, and the Boston metro specifically, are hotbeds of activity, as discussed in the 2022 Hottest Zip Codes report.