Highlights
- Manchester-Nashua, NH, returned to the top spot this month, ranking as the country’s hottest market for the 32nd time in the data’s history (back to mid-2017).
- Prices fell 2.2% nationally, but the month’s hottest markets saw prices continue to climb (+1.5%) due to high demand and scarce for-sale inventory.
- The Northeast and the Midwest were the only regions on this month’s list with 11 and 8 markets, respectively. January’s list is the 16th in a row that contains only Northeast and Midwest markets.
- The Philadelphia metro area saw the biggest jump in its hotness ranking among large U.S. metros compared with last year, climbing 57 spots to rank as the 62nd hottest U.S. market in January.
The Manchester-Nashua, NH, metro area ranked as the country’s hottest housing market in January, returning to the helm after two months of being ranked slightly lower. This Boston-adjacent metro has ranked No. 1 a total of 32 times, all since March 2021 as COVID-19-era demand intensified the market.
Manchester-Nashua has ranked near the top of the Hottest Markets list for the past four years. Manchester’s hotness means that high demand is met with low inventory as buyers claim available homes. The ongoing demand in the area has prevented inventory from recovering, keeping attention-pre-property high and market pace snappy.
The Market Hotness rankings take into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique views per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com.
Prices climb in half of the 20 hottest markets
On average, both price growth and demand outpace the national trend in the hottest markets. Home prices were 2.2% lower year over year nationally in January, but many of the hottest markets saw still-climbing prices. Annual price growth among the hottest markets was 1.5% in January, a step down from December. Demand, as measured by views per property, was 2.6 times the national level in the hottest markets in January, slightly higher than the previous month.
This month’s hottest market, Manchester-Nashua, is no stranger to the list. It saw 3.6 times the listing viewership as was typical in the U.S. in January, and home prices climbed 2.5% year over year. Behind Manchester-Nashua was Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn., which saw more than four times the listing views per property as the national median in January.
While active listings were up 24.6% year over year nationally in January, all but three of the hottest markets saw more subdued listing growth. On average, the 20 hottest markets saw inventory increase 12.7% year over year in January, about half of the national norm. Though inventory is improving annually in most of the hottest markets, there were an average of 50.4% fewer homes for sale in January among these hottest markets compared with pre-pandemic, far outpacing the national decline of 24.8%.
High demand and scarce inventory conditions drive views per property higher, upping the competition for homes in the hottest markets and leading to snappier home sales. Homes in the hottest markets sold about one day slower than last year but spent three weeks less on the market than typical nationally (52 days in hot markets versus 73 days nationally).
Who’s in
All but four markets on the January Hottest Housing Markets list were also on December’s list. Concord, NH, Rochester, NY, Boston, MA, and Bloomington, IL, all jumped into the top 20 from within the top 50 markets last month. Notably, this is Bloomington’s first time in the top 20.
Looking at which of the 300 ranked markets climbed the most year over year reveals that Bloomington (172 spots hotter), Charlottesville, VA (138 spots hotter), and Winchester, VA-WV (111 spots hotter), have picked up popularity compared with last year.
Who’s out
Four markets from the bottom half of December’s list fell out of the top 20 in January. Springfield, IL, Akron, OH, Waterbury-Shelton, CT, and Topeka, KS, all dropped out of the top 20 between December and January.
Looking instead at which metros have fallen the furthest over the past year reveals a list of mostly Southern and Western markets. The metros that have fallen the most include Spokane, WA, Savannah, GA, and Rocky Mount, NC.
January 2025: Top 20 Hottest Housing Markets
| Hottest Metros | Hotness Rank | Hotness Rank YoY | Viewers per Property vs U.S. | Median Days on the Market | Days on the Market YoY | Median List Price If Active Within Period |
| Manchester-Nashua, N.H. | 1 | 0 | 3.6 | 46 | 2 | $579,000 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. | 2 | -6 | 4.1 | 51 | -1 | $408,000 |
| Kenosha, WI | 3 | -4 | 2.9 | 45 | 0 | $335,000 |
| Norwich-New London, Conn. | 4 | -2 | 3.1 | 52 | 1 | $384,000 |
| Worcester, Mass.-Conn. | 5 | 1 | 2.6 | 50 | 5 | $527,000 |
| Concord, N.H. | 6 | -13 | 3.5 | 53 | -5 | $541,000 |
| Rockford, Ill. | 7 | -11 | 3 | 53 | -3 | $235,000 |
| Lancaster, Pa. | 8 | -2 | 2.4 | 50 | 3 | $409,000 |
| Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass. | 9 | -8 | 2.4 | 52 | -3 | $521,000 |
| Rochester, N.Y. | 10 | 9 | 2.5 | 53 | 19 | $258,000 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. | 11 | -10 | 2.1 | 51 | 5 | $363,000 |
| Racine, Wis. | 12 | -13 | 2.2 | 52 | -4 | $335,000 |
| Springfield, Mass. | 12 | 9 | 2.9 | 56 | 12 | $328,000 |
| Reading, Pa. | 14 | -13 | 2 | 50 | -2 | $330,000 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H. | 15 | 0 | 2.3 | 56 | 3 | $799,000 |
| Peoria, Ill. | 16 | -28 | 2 | 53 | -6 | $143,000 |
| Bloomington, Ill. | 17 | -172 | 2.4 | 58 | -23 | $291,000 |
| Toledo, Ohio | 17 | -4 | 1.9 | 52 | 2 | $220,000 |
| Oshkosh-Neenah, Wis. | 19 | 14 | 3 | 60 | 13 | $305,000 |
| Canton-Massillon, Ohio | 20 | -9 | 1.9 | 52 | -4 | $237,000 |
Not in the top 20? See rankings for the top 300 markets
Most improved large markets
The 40 largest markets across the country cooled by seven spots in hotness rank, on average, compared with last year. This is the fifth month that large markets have cooled off annually since January 2023. Nevertheless, these areas pulled in 13.3% more views per listing than was typical in the U.S. in January, and homes spent nine fewer days on the market than the U.S. median. Prices fell an average of 1.4% in these markets, the sixth month of large-market average annual decline in the data’s history.
Large, often high-priced, markets are starting to adjust to subdued buyer demand by lowering home prices and selling smaller, more affordable homes. Some of the slowing price growth both nationally and in the largest markets is due to a change in the mix of inventory for sale.
The most improved housing markets were Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (57 spots hotter), (New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (53 spots hotter), Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. (44 spots hotter), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (26 spots hotter), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va. (26 spots hotter). This month’s fastest-climbing markets ranked between 62nd (Philadelphia) and 211th (New York City) on January’s list.
Large Markets With Biggest Jump in Rankings (January 2025)
| Metro | Hotness Rank | Hotness Rank YoY | Viewers per Property vs U.S. | Median Days on the Market | Days on the Market YoY | Median Days on the Market vs U.S. |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. | 62 | -57 | 1.5 | 63 | -3 | -11 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. | 211 | -53 | 1.0 | 77 | -3 | 4 |
| Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. | 176 | -44 | 1.2 | 78 | 2 | 5 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. | 39 | -29 | 1.4 | 57 | 2 | -16 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va. | 78 | -26 | 1.0 | 52 | -1 | -22 |
What does this mean for buyers, sellers, and the housing market?
This month’s hottest markets might look familiar as the housing market putters on without significant change. The Midwest and Northeast have reigned supreme as homes to most of the country’s hottest markets since mid-2022 when mortgage rates picked up steam.
Housing affordability continues to be a challenge for home shoppers as home prices and mortgage rates refuse to budge significantly. On the bright side, new construction continues to offer buyers attractive prices and welcomed incentives. Buyers in areas with significant new-construction inventory not only enjoy more options, but also generally pay a lower premium for new construction over an existing home.