May 2022 Hottest Housing Markets
Highlights
- Manchester, NH remains in the top spot on the hottest housing markets list in May, holding the top spot for the 10th time in the last year.
- The top 20 hottest markets are spread out across 12 states, with multiple metros in Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin.
- As prices soar to new heights nationwide, affordability remains a key feature of May’s hottest markets with 16 markets below the national median listing price.
- There are no California markets on this month’s list for a second month, starting a streak never seen before in the data’s history.
- The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL metro area again saw the largest increase in its Hotness ranking among larger metros compared to last year, securing its highest hotness ranking (105th) for any May on record (available data going back to 2016).
Manchester, NH remained in the top spot on the hottest housing markets list in May. This area originally topped the list back in August 2020, and has held the number one spot a total of 15 times. Manchester first cracked into the top 20 in May 2018, and has remained in the top 2 for the last year.
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.
Buyers Search for Affordability as Prices Climb
After holding 5 spots on the hottest markets list in January, California metros are on the decline once again with no metros on the list for the second month in a row. These pricey California markets have been replaced with more affordable markets in the Northeast and Midwest. Overall, 16 of May’s hottest markets had median listing prices below the national median. The average listing price for the 20 hottest markets was $374,000 in May 2022, 16.3% lower than the national median, the biggest gap between the metrics since August 2021. Overall, 12 states were represented on our list of top 20 hottest housing markets in May, indicating diversified demand as affordability becomes harder to come by.
Connecticut and Indiana both boasted 3 markets on the list in May, tied for the most locales in any state. Indiana brought serious affordability to the list with Elkhart-Goshen, Fort Wayne and Lafayette-West Lafayette as 3 of the 4 least expensive hottest markets this May. The other Midwest markets on the list were Oshkosh-Neenah, WI, Columbus, OH and La Crosse-Onalaska, WI, all of which were priced more than $100,000 below the national median. Connecticut offered affordability as well with New Haven-Milford, Hartford-West Hartford, and Norwich-New London, all priced below the national median. The Northeast continued to heat up in May with 11 spots this month, the most on the list in the data’s history. The Northeast hot markets included the three Connecticut metros along with Rochester, NY, Springfield, MA, Claremont-Lebanon, NH, Burlington-South Burlington, VT, Manchester-Nashua, NH, Concord, NH and Portland-South Portland, ME. The Southern region of the US only had two locales on May’s list (Kingsport-Bristol, TN and Burlington, NC), and the West had just one (Billings, MT).
The states featured in our top 20 list this month are: Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Our Hottest Housing Markets, by design, are the areas where homes sell fastest and have lots of potential buyers checking out each listing. As a group, Realtor.com’s 20 Hottest Housing Markets received 1.5 to 3.2 times the number of viewers per home for sale compared to the national rate. These markets are seeing homes-for-sale move up to 23 days more quickly than the typical property in the United States.
The median national home price for active listings reached a new high of $447,000 in May, up 17.6% year-on-year. Most of May’s hottest markets are relatively affordable Midwest and Northeast markets. The hottest markets saw median listing prices reach $374,000 in May—16.3% lower, on average, than the national median of $447,000. Notably, the most expensive markets on the list were again the Billings, MT and Portland-South Portland, ME metros, where median listing prices were $539,000 and $550,000, respectively. The most expensive market (Billings, MT) was just 22.9% more expensive than the median US home, significantly closer to the median than in May 2021 when the most expensive hot market was 44.7% over the national median. Despite its higher cost, a high quality of life and economic opportunity plus relative affordability compared with some of the nation’s most expensive areas are helping propel the housing market in Billings, MT and have done so since the area topped the Summer 2021 Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index. Mortgage rates were 215 basis points higher at the end of May 2022 compared to the end of May 2021. Buyer attention has shifted towards affordability as climbing interest rates and slim inventory have made it difficult for many to find a suitable home in their price range.
May 2022 – Top 20 Hottest Housing Markets
| Hottest Metros | Hotness Rank | Hotness Rank YoY | Viewers per Property vs US | Median Days On Market | Days on Market YoY | Median Listing Price If Active Within Period |
| Manchester-Nashua, N.H. | 1 | 0 | 2.6 | 9 | 1 | $444,900 |
| Burlington-South Burlington, Vt. | 2 | 80 | 2.3 | 11 | -20 | $439,250 |
| Portland-South Portland, Maine | 3 | 1 | 2.3 | 15 | -1 | $538,500 |
| Concord, N.H. | 4 | -2 | 3.2 | 17 | 2 | $449,950 |
| La Crosse-Onalaska, Wis.-Minn. | 5 | 8 | 2 | 15 | -3 | $344,450 |
| Burlington, N.C. | 6 | -3 | 1.8 | 13 | -3 | $369,450 |
| Rochester, N.Y. | 7 | 2 | 1.6 | 10 | -1 | $224,950 |
| Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. | 8 | 6 | 2 | 18 | -1 | $259,900 |
| Lafayette-West Lafayette, Ind. | 9 | 1 | 1.8 | 17 | -1 | $297,450 |
| Fort Wayne, Ind. | 10 | -3 | 1.7 | 17 | -4 | $279,950 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 11 | 1 | 1.5 | 14 | 0 | $340,000 |
| Springfield, Mass. | 12 | 11 | 1.6 | 17 | -6 | $352,500 |
| Worcester, Mass.-Conn. | 13 | 5 | 1.5 | 15 | -3 | $469,900 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. | 14 | 144 | 1.6 | 18 | -12 | $362,750 |
| Billings, Mont. | 15 | 9 | 1.6 | 20 | -9 | $549,500 |
| Norwich-New London, Conn. | 16 | 130 | 1.7 | 22 | -9 | $404,500 |
| Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, Tenn.-Va. | 17 | 29 | 2.4 | 25 | -10 | $299,000 |
| New Haven-Milford, Conn. | 18 | 162 | 1.5 | 21 | -11 | $357,450 |
| Claremont-Lebanon, N.H.-Vt. | 19 | 163 | 2.3 | 25 | -25 | $397,000 |
| Oshkosh-Neenah, Wis. | 20 | 19 | 2.2 | 25 | -7 | $302,400 |
Affordable Northeast Locales Dominate Hottest Markets List
The average median listing price of the hottest markets is lower than the national median by the largest gap since July 2021 as more than three-quarters of the 20 hottest markets fall below this threshold. The Manchester-Nashua, NH metro area has been a mainstay in the top 20 hottest markets since early 2019. Manchester-Nashua offers a short commute and relative affordability compared to nearby Boston. The Boston metro area saw median home prices reach $772,000 in May 2022, 73.5% higher than the neighboring Manchester-Nashua and Concord, NH metros where prices reached $444,900 and $449,950, respectively. Homes in red-hot Manchester-Nashua spent just 9 days on the market in May, 23 days less than the national average.
For the second month in a row, no California metros are on the hottest markets list. There was just one Western market on the list for the third time in the data’s history (going back to 2016). Northeast markets make up more than half of the list, the most in the data’s history. These markets range from the most affordable (Rochester, NY) to second most expensive on the list (Portland-South Portland, ME), but 8 of the 11 Northeast markets were priced below the national median. Many of the hot Northeast markets climbed the rankings significantly since May 2021. Claremont-Lebanon, NH-VT climbed to number 19 in May 2022, up 163 spots from May 2021. Claremont-Lebanon, along with Burlington, VT, saw a remarkable drop in time on market with homes selling 25 and 20 days faster, respectively, compared to the previous year. Similarly, New Haven-Claremont, CT climbed 162 spots this May to land at number 18 on the list. The five fastest climbing markets on this month’s list are all Northeast markets priced below the national median listing price, emphasizing the appeal of more affordable markets. On average, however, May’s hottest markets saw prices grow 20.0% year-over-year, exceeding national price growth by 2.4 percentage points, though these markets are mostly priced below the national median. Buyers are looking for buying opportunities in less pricey markets as still-climbing prices coupled with elevated interest rates have taken a toll on their confidence and their budget.
The most affordable market on May’s list was Rochester, NY, where the median home price was $225,000, almost half of the national median. The median home price in Rochester dropped 9.7% between May 2021 and May 2022, making it the only market on the list to see a price decrease in the time frame. However, price per square foot increased by 7.7% in Rochester in the same timeframe. As discussed previously, the Indiana locales of Elkhart-Goshen, Fort Wayne and Lafayette-West Lafayette were the least expensive markets after Rochester, despite price growth since last year.
Most Improved Large Markets
Larger urban markets continue to cool down in the rankings, with the largest 40 markets across the country dropping by 6 spots, on average, since May 2021.
Of the largest 40 metros, the most-improved housing markets were all in the South: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (+70 spots); Boston, MA (+49 spots); Cincinnati, OH (+40 spots); Milwaukee, WI (+34 spots) and San Jose-Sunnyvale, CA (+34 spots).
After struggling early in the days of the pandemic, the Orlando, FL housing market has seen real estate sell faster and garner more interest month after month, earning it the position of fastest-rising large market on our list for the tenth month in a row. In the first quarter of 2022, this metro received the most attention from viewers in the Miami, FL, New York, NY and Washington D.C. metro areas. In May, the Orlando area rose 70 spots in hotness rank compared to last year. The metro area clocked in as the 105th hottest metro in the US, the highest ranking Orlando has seen in May in the available data (going back to 2016). Matching the nationwide trend of homes spending little time available for sale, the typical Orlando home spent 29 days on market, the shortest time on record for the metro. On the demand side, the metro still saw more viewers than the typical US property. The difference between viewers to the typical US property and viewers to the typical Orlando property grew slightly between May 2021 and May 2022.
As California metros fell out of the top 20 hottest markets for the second time, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA rose to the fifth most improved large market this month. This improvement is largely a function of homes spending just 17 days on the market in San Jose, the second shortest time on market in the data’s history and 15 days fewer than the US median. Interestingly, due to the area’s high cost, homes in the San Jose metro area were attracting less than half the number of viewers compared to the typical US property, the lowest relative viewership for the area in the data’s history. The hotness of this metro was instead driven by the quick market pace, indicating competition is on the rise in the San Jose metro area.
On the supply side, the five most-improved large markets saw inventory move an average 7 days more quickly than last year. In comparison, the largest 40 markets overall saw properties spend 6 days fewer on the market than last year, on average. The typical property spent 24 days on the market in the most-improved metros, 7 days less than the national norm.
Markets Seeing the Largest Jump in Rankings (May 2022)
