The past year was the ultimate roller-coaster ride in real estate—long upward climbs, steep drops, and no shortage of hairpin curves along the way. And the ride hasn’t come close to slowing down so far in 2021. According to the data on realtor.com® for the first month of the year, it’s clear that the coronavirus pandemic has reshaped house-hunting patterns, and is also driving a whole lot of buying activity.
Our latest deep dive into the hottest U.S. markets for real estate—those metros where homes are flying off the market and listings rack up tons of views from eager buyers—shows plenty of changes from the status quo. We’re seeing “spillover markets,” which are close to a larger metro but have lower prices, dominate the ranking. And that’s true for the market that made it to No. 1 for the first time in almost 10 years: Stockton, CA.
