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“Am I happy here?” is one of the many quasi-existential questions we ask ourselves every year around this time. As New Year’s resolutions loom and the allure of making life-changing decisions fill the air, it’s tempting to reevaluate your life, particularly where you’re living it. For this very reason, we tap our friends at places like Zillow and Realtor.com every December and ask their experts what moving trends we should expect to see over the next 12 months. The caveat is there’s never just one place people are gravitating toward. Different platforms have access to different data, but there are larger trends to be gleaned from it all. Affordability is unsurprisingly the top factor driving people’s house hunts, and it’s reflected in the smaller cities they’re thinking of. Here’s a look at the top-searched housing markets from 2023, plus the areas that are poised to have an increase in home sales in 2024.
The Most-Searched Markets of 2023
Curious what’s piquing other people’s curiosity? Look no further than their search history. Zillow just released its data on the top-searched markets from the past year, which is based not only on page-view traffic but home value growth and days on the market. The most popular area among Zillow surfers this year? West Chester, Pennsylvania. The strong interest has helped push home values in this market nearly 8 percent higher over the past year, bringing the average worth to $584,000. Here’s a look at the stats:
- West Chester, Pennsylvania
- Nashua, New Hampshire
- Manchester, New Hampshire
- Wethersfield, Connecticut
- West Hartford, Connecticut
- Stow, Ohio
- Middletown, Connecticut
- Twinsburg, Ohio
- Newington, Connecticut
- Concord, New Hampshire
Other honorable mentions include Chula Vista, California, which Zillow found is the most popular large city. South Portland, Maine, was the hottest seaside town, and North Carolina’s Pinehurst beat out South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island for the top retirement spot.
The Markets Predicted to See an Increase in Home Sales in 2024
According to Realtor.com’s 2024 Top Housing Markets forecast, the 10 cities below are poised to see the strongest combined increase in home sales and listing prices in 2024.
- Toledo, Ohio
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California
- Rochester, New York
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
- Bakersfield, California
- Springfield, Massachusetts
- Worcester, Massachusetts
- Grand Rapids-Kentwood, Michigan
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
Even as sales levels remain low, first-time home buyers aren’t losing hope. Forty-nine percent of them still think buying is a better option than renting in 2024, according to Realtor.com, and three-quarters (76 percent, to be exact) think the dream of home ownership is still possible to achieve—they’re even willing to save an extra $800 per month to make it happen.