Middletown Near The Top Of Major Real Estate 'Surfing' List

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Middletown was among the 10 hottest surfing spots for Zillow in 2023, the real estate market giant said.

Zillow released its 2023 most popular markets list Tuesday.

The most popular market among Zillow surfers this year was West Chester, PA. After the West Coast "ruled 2021" and the Midwest took the top spot last year, Northeast markets dominated this year’s list, according to Zillow.

Zillow surfers generally gravitated toward smaller cities in 2023, according to the list. Of the 10 most popular markets, only one — Manchester, NH — has a population of more than 100,000, and most are less than half that size, Zillow said.

The top 10 most popular markets on Zillow of 2023 are:

1. West Chester, Pennsylvania
2. Nashua, New Hampshire
3. Manchester, New Hampshire
4. Wethersfield, Connecticut
5. West Hartford, Connecticut
6. Stow, Ohio
7. Middletown, Connecticut
8. Twinsburg, Ohio
9. Newington, Connecticut
10. Concord, New Hampshire

Two Connecticut cities — West Haven and Milford — were the second and third most popular seaside towns this year.

Zillow analyzed housing metrics that indicate consumer demand, including page-view traffic, home value growth and days on market, for more than 2,000 U.S. cities to rank the most popular markets among Zillow surfers.

Large cities are defined as having a population of at least 250,000 people, according to 2021 American Community Survey data.

Seaside towns are defined as areas where more than half of listing descriptions on Zillow mentioned the beach, and excluded all cities that don’t feature the word "beach" in at least 50 listings on Zillow.

Vacation towns are defined as areas where more than 33 percent of the housing units are designated for non-primary use, according to 2021 American Community Survey data.

Retirement towns are defined as areas where at least 33 percent of the population is older than 65 and has no children or other relatives (other than a spouse) living in the home.

College towns are defined as cities with at least 20 percent of the population enrolled in higher education, according to 2021 American Community Survey data.