Peabody, Massachusetts has been named the hottest ZIP code in America for 2026, with homes in the historic North Shore suburb carrying a median listing price of $600,000 and spending a median of just 20 days on the market during the first half of the year. The former industrial city, once known as the Leather City, edged out suburbs near New York and Philadelphia to claim the top spot on Realtor.com's closely watched annual ranking.
The ranking, released by Realtor.com, evaluates market demand and pace by tracking unique property views per listing and how quickly homes go under contract. Peabody's ZIP code, 01960, drew over four times the national average in listing views, with much of that interest originating from the Boston metro area, according to the Time Out report on the rankings. Despite the frenzy, Peabody's median listing price remained roughly 20% below the broader Boston metropolitan average, per the same account.
Bidding Wars Test Local Buyers
The competition on the ground has been brutal for ordinary house hunters. MarketWatch reported that a local Massachusetts couple endured five months, 15 open houses, and six failed offers before concluding they would need to bid at least $50,000 over asking price just to land a house in Peabody this year, as detailed by MarketWatch. Peabody buyers made an average down payment of 14%, slightly below the 17.1% average across the top 10 ZIP codes nationwide, though local demand was strong enough to push the suburb to the top of the list regardless. Peabody buyers also carried an average credit score of 747, per the seed data.
Nationally, the housing market tells a very different story. Homes across the country sold for roughly 2.3% below asking price on average, even as average 30-year fixed mortgage rates hovered near 6.3%, down from 6.8% a year earlier. That national softness stands in sharp contrast to the top 10 hottest ZIP codes, where properties sold at an average sale-to-list price ratio of 103.8% in the first half of 2026, according to Realtor.com data cited in the Time Out report.
Tight Inventory Fuels the Frenzy
Much of the intensity traces back to a severe supply crunch. Housing inventory across the 10 hottest ZIP codes remained 60.5% below pre-pandemic norms in June 2026, compared to an 11.3% inventory deficit nationwide, per Realtor.com's economic research. That scarcity has forced buyers, who are notably well-capitalized, to compete aggressively: across the top 10 ZIP codes, buyers brought an average down payment of 17.1% and a median credit score of 766, compared to national averages of 13.1% and 747, according to Realtor.com research reported by Quartz.
Peabody's housing stock has helped sustain that demand for years. Owner-occupied homes in the 01960 ZIP code feature a median tenure of 16.5 years, compared to 13.3 years nationally, alongside a 50% millennial homeownership rate, according to Realtor.com research. Single-level ranch housing stock and low local tax rates near Interstate 95 have made the suburb appealing to both young families and retiring empty nesters, the same research notes.
A Multi-Year Climb, Not a Sudden Spike
Peabody's ascent to number one is not a fluke of this year's market. The suburb previously ranked fifth among hottest ZIP codes in 2018 and climbed to third in 2021, according to Realtor.com data distributed by PR Newswire. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Northeast and Midwest markets have completely swept the top 10 hottest ZIP codes, with zero entries from the South or West, per the same release.
Rounding out the rest of the 2026 list, Montclair, New Jersey (07042) ranked second with a median listing price of $1.05 million, homes spending a median of just 18 days on the market and selling 16.7% above asking price, the highest premium among all top 10 ZIP codes, according to Daily Voice. Montclair sits roughly 15 miles from Midtown Manhattan, offering suburban space within striking distance of the city, per the same report.
Sewell, New Jersey (08080) ranked third with a $426,000 median listing price, drawing 48.4% of its listing views from Philadelphia and 26.8% from New York. Fairport, New York (14450) came in fourth with a $429,000 median listing price and 5.25 times the national average in property views, Daily Voice reported. Both markets offer relative affordability compared to the major metropolitan centers they sit near, according to the outlet.
The remainder of the top 10 included Westfield, Massachusetts at number five, Livonia, Michigan at number six, Lititz, Pennsylvania at number seven, North Haven, Connecticut at number eight, New Berlin, Wisconsin at number nine, and Wheaton, Illinois at number ten, according to the rankings reported by Time Out contributor Gerrish Lopez.
