A town outside of Boston is the hottest ZIP code in the US — you may need $50,000 over asking price to buy a home there

The lodging marketplace whitethorn beryllium sluggish overall, but determination are inactive immoderate ZIP codes wherever contention is fierce and homes are selling good supra listing price.

The astir desirable ZIP codification successful the federation close present is 01960, according to Realtor.com's 2026 Hottest ZIP Codes report. That ZIP codification belongs to Peabody, Massachusetts, a municipality located adjacent Boston.

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Cameron and Hannah Zirpolo, for example, spent 5 months trying to find a location successful Peabody. "The lodging marketplace is not for the weak," Cameron told MarketWatch.

After going to 15 unfastened houses betwixt April and June and being outbid six times connected offers, they realized they were going to person to measurement it up. "We needed to spell astatine slightest $50,000 implicit asking to adjacent person a chance," Cameron said.

The Zirpolos yet recovered a location for $751,000 aft 5 months of looking, noting "there is thing not to love" astir their prime aft a challenging journey.

This is the archetypal twelvemonth Peabody earned the favoritism of "hottest" ZIP code, though it ranked successful the report's apical 10 successful 2018 and 2021. This year, ZIP codification 07042 (Montclair, New Jersey) came successful astatine No. 2, portion 08080 (Sewell, New Jersey) took 3rd place.

This year's hottest ZIP codes

During the archetypal fractional of this year, homes successful Peabody spent conscionable 20 days connected the market, according to Hottest ZIP Codes. That compares to 57 days astatine a nationalist level.

The median terms of a location present isn't cheap: it's astir $600,000. And successful June, it reached $667,000, according to Realtor.com. However, that was inactive astir 20% beneath the Boston metro average.

Peabody is conscionable 20 miles from downtown Boston (with road access) and adjacent to large employers. "Its premix of livability, comparative worth and casual commuting region helped marque it 1 of the year's hottest ZIP codes," according to the report.

In Montclair, which came 2nd successful the rankings, homes spent lone astir 18 days connected the market, contempt a median listing terms of $1,050,000. In Sewell, 3rd successful the rankings, homes spent astir 25 days connected the market, priced astatine a median of $426,000.

The rankings are based connected marketplace request (measured by unsocial viewers per spot connected Realtor.com) and the fig of days a listing spends connected the market.