Affordable, Affordable, Affordable: What America’s 20 Hottest Housing Markets All Have in Common Now

The national housing market might be in a slump, but some areas are sizzling like a summer heat wave.

For proof, look no further than the Realtor.com® June roundup of the Hottest Housing Markets. This month, the Hartford, CT, metropolitan area tops the list, followed by hottest markets stalwarts Manchester, NH, and Concord, NH.

To make the “hottest” list, a metro area must have a higher number of page views on Realtor.com, and a faster pace of selling, than in other areas of the country.

June’s list is dominated by metros in the Northeast and Midwest, where buyers can find lower prices than in much of the rest of the country—particularly after a frenzied few years during which buyers flocked south and west.

“Affordability is still very much front and center,” says Hannah Jones, economics data analyst at Realtor.com. That’s especially true as mortgage interest rates are near 7%, stretching the budgets of plenty of would-be buyers.

“We’re also seeing that many homeowners currently have mortgage rates below the market rate, so they’re not interested in selling,” adds Jones. “That means a lot of what’s available is outside of the price range of many buyers.”

The median-priced home in the Hartford metro area was $429,000 in June, below the national median of $445,000. Real estate in the capital of Connecticut cost far less than in New York City, about 2.5 hours southwest, where the median list price was $749,000 in June, according to Realtor.com data. It was also significantly cheaper than in Boston, about a 90-minute drive northeast without traffic. The median list price in the Boston metro was about $864,000 in June.

Prices in Manchester and Concord are both higher than in Hartford, at $521,000 and $565,000, respectively. Still, they’re much more accessible than the pricey Boston metro.

“In a city as dense as Boston, at some point you hit capacity and it’s hard to keep expanding and bringing in more people,” Jones says. “It becomes infeasible for a lot of residents, so they look elsewhere for a little more bang for the buck.”

That’s what’s drawing them to the nation’s hottest (and often more affordable) markets.

Four of the 20 hottest markets were in Connecticut in June, including Norwich, New Haven, Bridgeport, and, of course, Hartford. Many folks who moved to Hartford during the COVID-19 pandemic for the cheaper prices are now commuting to their offices in the New York City and Boston areas twice a week, says Hartford-area real estate agent Lisa Barall-Matt, who’s with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.

House hunters aren’t just drawn to the lower prices, but the lifestyle as well.

“They’re looking for a place to raise families,” she says. “Younger buyers are looking for a place where they can walk to the center and dine outside, meet their friends, have lovely parks to go to. We’ve got beautiful beaches and lakes, all kinds of nice outdoor places.” That includes the Atlantic Ocean and multiple state and national forests and parks, all within an hour’s drive.

Hartford also boasts plenty of employment opportunities, including being the state capital and the unofficial hub of the insurance industry. Companies such as Aetna, The Travelers Companies, and Synchrony Financial all have offices there.

Recently, Barall-Matt says, she has helped buyers relocate from as far away as California, Florida, and Alabama.

One caveat: The number of homes for sale is still very low. So all that demand is making market conditions just as crazy as during the height of the pandemic. Recently, one of her buyers was in a bidding war with 36 other buyers, and lost to a higher bid, despite offering $45,000 over the asking price.

Hartford-area homes spent just 18 days on the market in June, less than half the national median.

It’s anyone’s guess how long the “hottest” metro areas will remain affordable, and thus desirable. On average, the metros in this month’s hottest list have seen prices charge higher by 16.1% over the past year, even as the national median price has dipped.

Still, the bottom line is that, at least for now, Barall-Matt says, “Connecticut remains a very affordable place to live.”

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