The South and Southeast received a lot of love on Opendoor’s recent list of the hottest ZIP codes and hidden gems for 2023. According to the real estate platform, approximately 4 million properties were bought last year, and 20 communities, in particular, stood out for selling real estate the quickest, despite a market that many viewed as overpriced with ridiculous loan rates. The majority are in Texas, with Cypress, Texas, leaping to the top with about half, while the remainder are spread across Florida, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
The Trendiest Zip Codes
What drew people to these popular locations? According to Opendoor, these places have lower living expenses than the country as a whole. Close-knit communities are much sought after these days because of their small size, which also means that there are plenty of practical amenities and none of the traffic problems that larger cities have. In addition to Cypress, the following ZIP codes were included on the list:
- Katy, Texas
- Clarksville, Tenn.
- Yukon, Okla.
- Summerville, S.C.
San Antonio and Fort Worth were the two biggest cities that were included in the ranking. In order to determine the top ZIP codes for 2022, Opendoor analyzed data from the local Multiple Listing Services (MLS), where Opendoor Brokerage is active. The ZIP codes were rated according to the total number of houses that were put under contract within 90 days of listing.
Undiscovered Jewel Cities
Opendoor statistics also revealed “under the radar” neighborhoods, where the number of listings increased between January and November 2023. They also made it a point to take availability, cost, and desirability into account while identifying “hidden gems” around the nation. The website states that “they reflect buyers’ embrace of a different lifestyle, whether through resizing their homes, buying fewer items, cutting back on spending, or simple-sizing.”
The cities on the list are less populous yet adjacent to important centers, and developers are snapping at the opportunity to build because there is a large supply of recently constructed, move-in-ready homes in these rapidly developing areas. Furthermore, they are reasonably priced. Ten hidden treasures with an average property value of less than $300,000 are listed below.
- Hopkins, S.C.
- Princeton, Texas
- Casselberry, Fla.
- Lewisburg, Tenn.
- North Richland Hills, Texas
- Royse City, Texas
- Winter Garden, Fla.
- Waterford, Mich.
- Piedmont, S.C.
- Helena, Ala.
“Our top neighborhoods show that homeowners prefer to escape the hustle and bustle of bigger cities for towns that offer most everything they need—including the right price,” says Chelsea Goyer, national head of brokerage at Opendoor. Many purchasers appeared to be looking for turnkey properties and handy locations as mortgage rates rose to their highest point in more than 20 years. In order to find these hidden treasures, Opendoor looked at how many new listings in its areas fit their acquisition criteria within specific price ranges and computed the percentage rise in new listings at the ZIP code level between January and November 2023. To be included on the list, a ZIP code had to have at least five new listings in each of the two months.
