Buying a house

“Buyers have focused on affordable cities in the Midwest and well-located metropolitan areas in the Northeast that offer a certain combination of value and desirability.”

Four Massachusetts communities made Realtor.com’s list of the 50 most desirable zip codes for homebuyers in 2024.

The report, released Monday, named Gahanna, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, the hottest market in the United States for the second year in a row, with the median list price for a home there at $345,000.

The real estate marketplace arrived at its findings based on an algorithm that takes into account market demand (measured by unique visitors) and market pace (measured by the number of days a listing remains active on the site). Listings from January to June were examined. The list of top zip codes is limited to one per metropolitan area.

Massachusetts listings reflect the growing need for affordable housing and the push to find it outside of urban centers. The state’s first entry on the list was Salem, which came in at No. 3 with a median listing price of $596,000. Homes in this North Shore city spent an average of 16 days on the market. Leominster in Worcester County and Westfield in Hampden County ranked No. 7 and 8, respectively. Attleboro in Bristol County was No. 3.

These were the top 20:

It was the first time that a Springfield metropolitan area zip code was on the list.

Five other New England communities made the top 50 list:

According to Realtor.com, homes in the hottest neighborhoods spent an average of 13 days on the market — 32 days less than the national median.

These zip codes tend to be wealthier and have older residents than the rest of the country. “The median household income in the hottest zip codes was $95,000 compared to the national average of $76,000. … These markets also have a slightly higher share of households age 45 or older than the national average,” the report said.