The 10 most popular housing markets of early 2022

Homebuyers fleeing crowded urban life during the pandemic found reprieve in the nation’s suburbs, and their migration has turned some of those markets into the nation’s hottest.

Remote and hybrid work models have empowered workers to move within a short drive of city centers and the shift in demand has caused suburban prices to skyrocket. Ten suburbs topped Zillow’s ranking of the most popular markets in early 2022, where home values grew at a faster rate than those in the main city within their metropolitan area.

“How many employers continue to allow this flexibility for employees to live where they choose will go a long way toward determining which markets are most in-demand in the future,” said Nicole Bachaud, Zillow economist in a press release.

Zillow’s report analyzed page view traffic, home value growth and for-sale inventory for more than 1,000 cities. Eight of the suburbs among Zillow’s top 10 had higher home values than their nearest principal city, and seven markets had values more than $150K higher. Mortgage brokers and real estate agents from these locations told National Mortgage News why the cities have been attractive locales.