High Rizz Markets - Realtor.com® Launches New Report Finding the Top 10 Most Popular Markets for Online Home Searchers

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Aug 06, 2024, 06:00 ET

The Top 10 Represent Markets in the South, Northeast and Midwest

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rizz, Charisma or Clout, whatever you want to call it, a new report by Realtor.com^® finds out what markets in the U.S. have that "it" factor. This new report found that of all major U.S. markets, Columbus, Ohio, Knoxville, Tenn, and Louisville, Ky rank one, two and three respectively, in terms of popularity with online searchers in the past year.

"With a mix of affordability and growing inventory, these markets were sought out by online home shoppers, earning them a spot on our Most Popular Markets ranking," said Realtor.com^® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. "What's notable is that these ten metros are large enough to attract those making the hard decision to move to a new area, but also still generally small and affordable enough to hold onto local home shoppers. With lower housing costs and more homes for sale, these second cities clustered in the South, Midwest, and Northeast, are likely to continue to attract movers from all over."

This new report uses Realtor.com online traffic data, views per property data and a newly developed regional traffic concentration index to uniquely assess metro area popularity.

No Longer Just Flyover States
Earning the top spot, Columbus, Ohio consistently ranks high among Realtor.com^® hottest housing markets and top emerging housing markets. Driven by its affordability, it's particularly attractive to families and young professionals. Columbus was not the only Midwest city to make the list. Detroit, Mich. ranked fourth and is the largest market on our list, boasting a population of over 4 million people and offers affordability with a median listing price of $252,000 over the past year.

Southern Charm
A warmer climate, coupled with abundant housing inventory and relatively affordable prices make the South popular with many home searchers. Specifically, Knoxville, Tenn. has become a top destination in the region, recognized as the top emerging housing market in both Summer and Fall 2023. The market's housing affordability, high quality of life blending urban and suburban living, growing job opportunities, and numerous outdoor activities make it especially attractive for families. Not surprisingly, Tampa, Fla. also made it into the top 10, where the median listing price increased by nearly 50% during the past five years (pre-pandemic). Other Southern cities in the top 10 include: Louisville, Ky, Charleston, S.C. and Asheville, N.C.

Pittsburgh "Steels" the Northeast
Pittsburgh, Pa, a top destination for college graduates embarking on new careers, has emerged as the most popular housing market in the Northeast over the past 12 months. Compared to other major U.S. cities, Pittsburgh offers a lower cost of living and boasts a diverse and growing economy with strengths in technology, healthcare, education, and finance. Meanwhile, Portland, Maine and Hartford, Conn. stand out among other Northeastern markets. Their smaller size offers a more manageable lifestyle with a strong sense of community and cultural identity, making them popular alternatives to larger cities in the Northeast.

More than A Local Attraction
This report introduces a new index, the Regional Traffic Concentration Index, to help determine which metros attract a diverse range of online searches, geographically speaking. Using this index, where a lower the number is the goal, helps us find metros with the most geographically diverse interest. In our top 10, Charleston, S.C. and Louisville, Ky lead the way. Both cities draw a lot of attention from around the U.S., as Charleston is a popular retirement destination and a city that boasts notable cultural attractions and a mild climate and Louisville is geographically unique, sitting at the intersection of the South and Midwest.

Most Popular Markets in the U.S

Rank	Market	Traffic Share	View Per Property vs US	Traffic Concentration
Rank	Market	Traffic Share	View Per Property vs US	Traffic by Region	Overall Index
1	Columbus, OH	0.9 %	2.4	Northeast: 13.7% South: 15.4% Midwest: 67.3% West: 3.6%	0.50
2	Knoxville, TN	0.5 %	1.7	Northeast: 12.9% South: 67.3% Midwest: 10.8% West: 9.1%	0.49
3	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	0.5 %	1.5	Northeast: 12.2% South: 61.4% Midwest: 21.5% West: 4.9%	0.44
4	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	1.3 %	1.2	Northeast: 12.3% South: 12.7% Midwest: 70.5% West: 4.6%	0.53
5	Pittsburgh, PA	0.9 %	1.5	Northeast: 72.4% South: 18.0% Midwest: 5.4% West: 4.2%	0.56
6	Portland-South Portland, ME	0.4 %	3.2	Northeast: 80.0% South: 12.2% Midwest: 3.4% West: 4.4%	0.66
7	Tampa-St. Petersburg- Clearwater, FL	1.9 %	1.1	Northeast: 17.7% South: 69.1% Midwest: 8.9% West: 4.3%	0.52
8	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	0.4 %	1.2	Northeast: 23.4% South: 60.7% Midwest: 8.9% West: 7.0%	0.44
9	Hartford-East Hartford- Middletown, CT	0.6 %	3.5	Northeast: 86.9% South: 9.4% Midwest: 1.4% West: 2.3%	0.77
10	Asheville, NC	0.3 %	1.7	Northeast: 15.3% South: 71.4% Midwest: 6.9% West:6.4%	0.54

Methodology
This report examines the online views of for-sale listings on the Realtor.com marketplace across metropolitan areas from July 2023 to June 2024. It calculates the online traffic share for each market by comparing the listing views received by that market to the total online views generated on Realtor.com. Views per property (vs. US) is estimated by the count of online views a typical property receives in the specified geography divided by the count of views a typical property receives in the US overall during the same time period. The Regional Traffic Concentration Index is created based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), ranging from 0 to 1. For each market, we create the index by calculating traffic share from each region, squaring the traffic share for each region and adding the results together. While we calculate these metrics for all the markets in the U.S, we only rank the top 300 largest metros for the purpose of this research.

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