This housing market is not for the weak, observes one buyer in America's hottest ZIP Code
High demand for homes is the key reason ZIP Code 01960 is the "hottest" in America right now, according to Realtor.com.
It took Cameron and Hannah Zirpolo five months, nearly 15 open houses, and six offers to buy a house in Peabody, Mass.
They had been living in nearby Danvers in a two-bedroom condo unit they'd bought in 2020 and wanted extra space for their toddler and their dog.
But as they began house hunting in April they quickly realized that. in spite of high home prices and elevated mortgage rates, the Peabody market was exceptionally hot. They found themselves competing against eager buyers who were ready to offer far more than the asking price.
"We knew selling the condo was going to be easy because Danvers has been on everyone's radar and is very desirable, but buying was going to be different," Cameron Zirpolo, who works for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, told MarketWatch.
They still underestimated how hot their target market was. Between April and June, they went to around 15 open houses. They were outbid six times during this "ordeal" and recognized that they needed to up the ante. "We needed to go at least $50,000 over asking to even have a chance," Cameron Zirpolo said.
"The housing market is not for the weak," he added.
High demand for homes in Peabody is one reason its 01960 ZIP Code is the "hottest" in America right now, according to a new analysis by Realtor.com. Peabody made the top of the "hottest" ZIP Codes list for the first time this year. Montclair, N.J., ranked second, followed by Sewell, also in the Garden State.
Realtor.com ranked the ZIP Codes based on how much attention they get from house hunters - measured by the number of internet views per property on Realtor.com - and how fast houses sell, based on the number of days a listing spends on the market before it is purchased.
(Realtor.com is operated by News Corp subsidiary Move Inc., and MarketWatch publisher Dow Jones is also a subsidiary of News Corp.)
These are the top 10 hottest ZIP Codes in the country and median listing prices in each:
Rank ZIP Code Location Metro area Median listing price 1 01960 Peabody Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H. $600,000 2 07042 Montclair New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J. $1,050,000 3 08080 Sewell Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. $426,000 4 14450 Fairport Rochester, N.Y. $429,000 5 01085 Westfield Springfield, Mass. $381,000 6 48154 Livonia Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich. $338,000 7 17543 Lititz Lancaster, Pa. $598,000 8 06473 North Haven New Haven, Conn. $562,000 9 53151 New Berlin Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis. $445,000 10 60187 Wheaton Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Il.-Ind. $575,000
The Peabody market is not a cheap one: The median home price there is about $600,000. Originally part of Salem, Mass., the area was settled by the English in 1629. It's about 20 miles north of downtown Boston, and offers a small-town feel while being close to major employers, such as the Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center. For-sale listings in Peabody spent just 20 days on the market in the first half of 2026, Realtor.com found, while the comparable national figure was about 57 days. The majority of internet search traffic to listings of Peabody homes came from nearby Boston, the company added, with seven in 10 viewers located in Boston.
Peabody's brisk pace of sales is in stark contrast to the national housing market. Home sales nationally are slow due to high prices and mortgage rates.
The housing market has fractured into two. The upper end, comprising more expensive homes, is humming along, particularly in pricey markets in the Northeast, while the lower end, comprising more affordable homes, is sagging. Buyers are also largely shunning markets in the Sun Belt, which has led to price cuts across many metro areas, particularly in Florida and Texas.
"What's especially notable is how financially prepared these buyers are," Hannah Jones, a senior economist at Realtor.com, said of house hunters in the hot ZIP Codes in a statement.
Even in areas where a typical local income isn't sufficient to cover today's home prices, "buyers are showing up with larger down payments and stronger credit profiles than the national norm, which tells us this demand is real and well-capitalized," she added.
Dante Bruzzese, the Zirpolos' Compass real-estate agent, who grew up in the Peabody area, said single-family homes that are ready to move into and priced between $575,000 and $850,000 are "generally going within the first couple of weeks."
Homes have been selling faster over the past year - the number of days Peabody listings were on the market has fallen 5% from a year ago, according to Compass data, Bruzzese added, and there has been a 21% drop in the number of listings since last year.
Competition was fierce for the Zirpolos when it came to buying a house in Peabody. "It seemed people were so worried about missing out that they were willing to go up to $100,000 over asking just to secure the home," Cameron Zirpolo said. He and his wife didn't want to go that far. "We were not going to become house poor, especially with a young baby," he added.
They finally managed to put an offer on a house after attending an open house that was empty. "We walked through and fell in love," the buyer added. They bought the three-bedroom colonial in Peabody for $751,000 in mid-June with a 30-year mortgage with a rate of 5.85%. Their down payment of $120,000 came from the proceeds of the sale of their Danvers condominium unit.
How does it feel to own property in the hottest ZIP Code in America? "There is nothing not to love," Zirpolo said, from shopping options to good schools and activities for all ages.
Following are the three hottest ZIP Codes in each state in America:
State Top ZIP Codes and location Alabama Birmingham (35213), Millbrook (36054), Northport (35473) Alaska Fairbanks (99709), Juneau (99801), Eagle River (99577) Arizona Yuma (85364), Tucson (85737), Prescott (86301) Arkansas Conway (72032), Hot Springs Village (71909), Searcy (72143) California Salinas (93906), Alamo (94507), Rocklin (95677) Colorado Eaton (80615), Colorado Springs (80920), Fort Collins (80526) Connecticut North Haven (06473), Stamford (06905), Manchester (06040) Delaware Wilmington (19808), Camden-Wyoming (19934), Milford (19963) Florida Oviedo (32766), The Villages (34762), Pompano Beach (33076) Georgia Alpharetta (30022), Columbus (31909), Warner Robins (31088) Hawaii Kailua (96734), Mountain View (96771), Kilauea (96754) Idaho Boise (83709), Coeur d'Alene (83815), Moscow (83843) Illinois Wheaton (60187), East Peoria (61611), Rockford (61108) Indiana Carmel (46033), Auburn (46706), Huntington (46750) Iowa Sioux City (51106), Council Bluffs (51503), Davenport (52806) Kansas Overland Park (66212), Wichita (67212), Topeka (66614) Kentucky Newport (41076), Louisville (40207), Owensboro (42303) Louisiana Mandeville (70448), Greenwell Springs (70739), West Monroe (71291) Maine Auburn (04210), Gorham (04038), Gardiner (04345) Maryland Mount Airy (21771), Elkton (21921), Mechanicsville (20659) Massachusetts Peabody $(01960)$, Westfield $(01085)$, North Attleboro (02760) Michigan Livonia (48154), Temperance (48182), Charlotte (48813) Minnesota Duluth (55811), Saint Paul (55110), Mankato (56003) Mississippi Laurel (39440), Vancleave (39565), Saltillo (38866) Missouri Ballwin (63011), Jefferson City (65109), Pleasant Hill (64080) Montana Billings (59102), Great Falls (59405), Helena (59602) Nebraska Omaha (68144), Lincoln (68502), Kearney (68845) Nevada Carson City (89701), Reno $(89508)$, Fallon (89406) New Hampshire Hudson $(03051)$, Concord $(03301)$, Salem $(03079)$ New Jersey Montclair (07042), Sewell $(08080)$, Hackettstown (07840) New Mexico Farmington (87401), Albuquerque (87111), Hobbs (88240) New York Fairport (14450), Endicott (13760), Commack (11725) North Carolina Apex (27539), Randleman (27317), Wilmington (28409) North Dakota Minot (58703), Bismarck (58501), Dickinson (58601) Ohio Wadsworth (44281), Louisville (44641), Toledo (43614) Oklahoma Claremore (74019), Edmond (73025), Bartlesville (74006) Oregon Eugene (97404), Portland (97215), Astoria (97103) Pennsylvania Quakertown (18951), Lititz (17543), York (17402) Rhode Island Warwick $(02886)$, Warwick $(02889)$, Cumberland (02864) South Carolina Mount Pleasant (29466), Columbia (29205), Rock Hill (29732) South Dakota Huron (57350), Sioux Falls (57105), Rapid City (57702) Tennessee Bluff City (37618), Elizabethton (37643), Farragut (37934) Texas Colleyville (76034), Abilene (79605), Amarillo (79121) Utah Salt Lake City (84105), Kaysville (84037), Provo (84604) Vermont Essex Junction (05452), Brattleboro (05301), Rutland (05701) Virginia Henrico (23229), Gainesville (20155), Radford (24141) Washington Spokane (99203), Bainbridge Island (98110), Gig Harbor (98335) Washington, D.C. Washington (20015), Washington (20007), Washington (20008) West Virginia Hurricane (25526), Harpers Ferry (25425), Hedgesville (25427) Wisconsin New Berlin (53151), Kenosha (53140), Appleton (54911)
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