While many flock to the sunnier shores of the United States, others travel north and call New England home.

Most of New England — Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut — had cities that made Realtor.com’s 20 Hottest Markets list.

The study found that affordability remains a key selling point for homebuyers — and for the list — as home prices and mortgage rates soar nationwide.

“Affordability is the common thread running through the top states featured in May’s list of the hottest real estate markets,” said George Ratiu, the firm’s director of economic research. “With average home prices below the national mark, these states offer significant value to buyers.”

The average list price for the list’s hottest markets in 16 states as of May 2022 was $374,000, 16.3% below the national median.

The states that rounded out the May top 20 are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, Connecticut, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Indiana.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate is over 5%, a big jump from last year, and the housing market is expected to be red hot this spring.

Manchester, New Hampshire ranked first on the list, while Burlington, Vermont was ranked second and Portland, Maine was third.

Massachusetts was also on the list, with Springfield and Worchester finishing 12th and 13th respectively.

Realtor.com’s Market Hotness ranking took into account two aspects of the housing market: market demand and the pace of the market, which is measured by the number of days a listing remains active on its website.

This is how the 20 hottest real estate markets in the USA lined up in May.

  1. Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire
  2. Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont
  3. Portland-South Portland, Maine
  4. Concord, New Hampshire
  5. La Crosse-Onalaska, Wisconsin-Minnesota
  6. Burlington, North Carolina
  7. Rochester, New York
  8. Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana
  9. Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana
  10. Fort Wayne, Indiana
  11. Columbus, Ohio
  12. Springfield, Massachusetts
  13. Worchester, Massachusetts-Connecticut
  14. Hartford-West Harford-East Hartford, Connecticut
  15. Bills, Montana
  16. Norwich-New London, Connecticut
  17. Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia
  18. New Haven-Milford, Connecticut
  19. Claremont-Lebabon, New Hamphire-Vermont
  20. Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin

Click here to learn more about Realtor.com’s 20 Hottest Markets list.

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