Small, affordable towns close to larger metro areas are pretty hot right now, according to an RISMedia analysis of Realtor.com®’s May 2025 Market Hotness ranking.
Massachusetts, West Virginia, Wisconsin and California had the hottest markets, and the Northeast took the lead with the top 7 overall, all located in New England.
Interestingly enough, the hottest markets were in small towns in Massachusetts and Wisconsin, and other small Midwestern and Southeastern states. The hottest markets in California were pretty low on the overall hotness scale.
Based on two aspects of the market, the Realtor.com Market “Hotness” rankings are:
- Market demand, measured by unique views per property on Realtor.com
- The pace of the market, as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com
The Northeast: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the hottest of them all?
- Springfield, Massachusetts
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- No. 1 hottest market with a $354,900 median listing price
- Amherst Town-Northampton, Massachusetts
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- No. 2 hottest market with a $555,975 median listing price
- Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire
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- No. 3 hottest market with a $599,000 median listing price
New England is generally cold in the winter, but it had the hottest markets this May, according to Realtor.com.
The top seven hottest markets are all located in the Northeast, with over half in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Springfield, Massachusetts, took the lead as the No. 1 hottest market in the Northeast, and overall, with a median listing price of $354,900.
Just 90 miles away from Boston—where its median listing price is just below $900,000—Springfield is a much more affordable option, while still being commuter-friendly to the city.
The city is not only home to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but it’s also the birthplace of the sport. In 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a physical education teacher at Springfield College, created the sport while working at the YMCA International Training School.
Besides basketball, Springfield has many other firsts, as observed by its nickname, The City of Firsts.
There are too many to name them all, but a few noteworthy firsts from Springfield include: the first Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the first American-made automobile and America’s first armory and military arsenal. It’s also where Dr. Seuss was born.
About 20 miles north of Springfield is the next hottest market—Amherst Town-Northampton, Massachusetts. This second-hottest, overall, market has a median listing price of $555,975.
A vibrant college town, Amherst is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. It’s also the birthplace of another major literary figure—Emily Dickinson.
Also a college town, Northampton is home to Smith College.
The town also has a vibrant LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, UMass Amherst’s student newspaper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, named Northampton the lesbian capital of the world.
Moving away from Massachusetts, the third-hottest market is Manchester-Nashua in New Hampshire, with a median listing price of $599,000.
According to U.S. Census Data from 2023, the metro’s median household income is $103,727, about 1.3 times the median amount in the U.S., $77,719.
The metro has 178,687 housing units, 4% of which are vacant. Of the 96% occupied units, 68% are occupied by owners; the remaining 32% are rented. The median value of owner-occupied housing units is $430,300—about 25% higher than the country’s $340,200 figure.
The Midwest: Nothing mid about these markets
- Kenosha, Wisconsin
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- Seventh-hottest market with a median listing price of $369,900
- Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin
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- 10th hottest market with a median listing price of $334,900
- Monroe, Michigan
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- 14th hottest market with a median listing price of $320,000
Wisconsin is having a moment. With the hottest markets in Wisconsin and Michigan, one might think that people are just big fans of the Great Lakes, but when looking at the prices, things start to look a bit more appealing.
Wisconsin is also the cheese capital of the country, and is pretty well known for its beer scene as well, with a specific beer that’s only sold in the state—New Glarus’ Spotted Cow.
Kenosha, Wisconsin, the hottest market in the Midwest and the seventh hottest overall—tied with Rochester, New York—has a median listing price of $369,900.
Nestled right between Chicago and Milwaukee, Kenosha offers just the right balance of suburban life with big-city accessibility.
Milwaukee is about a 45-minute drive from Kenosha, and Chicago, depending on traffic, is about an hour. There’s also a Metra train from Kenosha to Chicago, with stops along the way, making it an ideal landing spot for commuters looking to escape the city after work.
The second-hottest Midwest market, and 10th overall, is Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin.
According to Census data from 2023, the metro had a population of just over 170,000, with a median household income of $72,873 and a median property value of $208,600. The median listing price, according to Realtor.com, is $334,900. The area is home to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, which awarded 2,537 degrees in 2023.
Moving across the lake, Monroe, Michigan, is the third-hottest market in the Midwest and the 14th hottest overall.
One of the oldest cities in Michigan, the city was established in 1817. Its Old Village historic district, centered on the River Raisin, still serves as the town’s downtown area.
According to Census data, Monroe’s population reached just over 20,000 in 2024.
The La-Z-Boy furniture company, known for its reclining chairs, was founded in Monroe in 1927.
The South: West Virginia sweeps them all
- Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia
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- 54th hottest market with a median listing price of $477,000
- Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio
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- 62nd hottest market with a median listing price of $214,900
- Morgantown, West Virginia
- 64th hottest market with a median listing price of $350,000
Eminently affordable West Virginia is the star of the show here, taking up all three spots in the South’s hottest markets.
Approximately 75 miles west of Washington, D.C., Winchester, Virginia, is right on the border of Maryland and West Virginia.
The city is known for its Civil War history, as the city changed hands multiple times during the war. It’s also known as the “Apple Capital” due to the large apple orchards in the area and the annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.
The Huntington-Ashland metro area, spread out over West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, is the second-hottest market in the South, and 62nd overall, according to the Realtor.com report.
According to Census data from 2023, there are 174,512 housing units in the metro, with a 90% occupancy rate. Of the occupied units, 72% are owner-occupied.
The median value of owner-occupied homes in the area is $159,700. The median listing price, per Realtor.com, $214,900.
Home to West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, ranked as the third-hottest market in the South.
A college town, Morgantown is home to West Virginia University. In 2021, there were 21,086 undergraduate students and 5,753 graduate students.
The city is 75 miles south of Pittsburgh, 208 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., and 156 miles northeast of Charleston.
The West: California strikes again
- Salinas, California
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- 95th hottest market with a median listing price of $1,299,500
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, California
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- 97th hottest market with a median listing price of $639,000
- Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California
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- 99th hottest market with a median listing price of $995,000
Unsurprisingly (maybe), California took up the top spots for the region’s hottest markets. Commanding the highest prices on this list, the top-three hottest markets in the West also ranked much lower on the hotness scale, perhaps a reflection of the affordability.
Salinas, known as “The Salad Bowl of the World” due to its agricultural industry, has a median listing price of just under $1.3 million.
With ideal weather year-round for producing crops, some of the main commodities produced here are lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes.
The city is also home to another famous literary figure, John Steinbeck.
Another major attraction is the California Rodeo Salinas, which began in 1911 and is the largest rodeo in the state.
The Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro area takes up 5,093.2 square miles and has a population of 2,420,698, according to 2023 Census data.
There are a total of 965,524 housing units, 92% of which are occupied. Of the occupied units, 64% are owner-occupied. The median value of owner-occupied units is $587,600. The median listing price, per Realtor.com, is $639,000.
The third-ranked hottest market in the West, Santa Rosa-Petaluma in California, has a median listing price of $995,000.
Located in Sonoma County, the Santa Rosa-Petaluma metro area has a population of 481,812 and takes up 1,575.3 square miles, with 305.8 people per square mile.
Santa Rosa is primarily known for being the heart of California’s wine country and is a popular biking destination. Petaluma, due to its chicken processing industry, was once known as the “Egg Capital of the World.”
