Realtor.com has recently released the results of a unique survey titled the Combined Hotness Index. The new results cover the first half of 2015, and the survey is largely a measure of supply and demand based on the number of views on its website listings and the median age of listings before the properties are sold.
In terms of supply and demand, the top 10 ZIP codes on the Combined Hotness Index outperform the national average by a factor of 500 percent. Homes located in these ZIP codes sell four to nine times faster, and the listings are viewed up to eight times more often.
The top 10 ZIP codes in the latest index have several traits in common:
• The local economies are outperforming the national average.
• All of them are in metropolitan areas.
• The median income for millennials, people 25 to 34 years of age, is 50 percent higher than the national average.
• Housing is more affordable than the national average in all but two of the locations.
• Unemployment is an average of 22 percent lower than it is in the ZIP codes’ larger metropolitan areas.
• The median household income is 20 percent higher than the average of the larger metropolitan areas.
Following are the top 10 hottest ZIP codes for the first half of 2015:
10. Carlsbad, California – 92010
9. Fargo, North Dakota – 58103
8. Austin, Texas – 78729
7. Crestwood, Missouri – 63126
6. San Antonio, Texas – 78247
5. Novi, Michigan – 48375
4. Plano, Texas – 75023
3. Centennial, Colorado – 80122
2. Worthington, Ohio – 43085
1. Melrose, Massachusetts – 02176