Which City Is the Hottest in America?

Now that states are reopening, the housing markets in many cities are picking up speed, but small, suburban, and southern locations are rising above the pack. More than half of the top 100 metro areas experienced an uptick in interest in the suburbs in May: Realtor.com reports that the coronavirus has shifted the way people are buying homes as they search for affordable homes with more space further from city centers—thank you, remote work. Columbia, S.C. tops the hottest markets in the U.S. due to its low housing prices and its declaration of real estate as an essential business. See if your city made the top 10. 

With the novel coronavirus trapping most Americans in their homes for months on end, many folks have had plenty of time to reevaluate their lives, their communities—and their lack of space.

The suburbs are poised to become some of the nation's hottest markets in the wake of the onset of COVID-19. Many city dwellers crammed into tiny apartments are suddenly seeing the appeal of a well-priced big house and their own yard. Others are chasing more space for less money by moving even farther out into the burbs as they realize they can do their job entirely or mostly remotely.

More than half, 54 to be precise, of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas are seeing an uptick in interest in their suburbs from home shoppers, according to a recent realtor.com® analysis.

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