Valentine’s Day is a day that honors love, and at HousingWire what we really love are healthy housing markets.
Luckily, Zillow has compiled a list of some of the most loved neighborhoods of 2018, which range from upscale enclaves, popular vacation and retirement communities and more.
“U.S. home shoppers shared plenty of love in 2018, and where it was spread shows the nation’s affinity for luxury, leisure and opportunity,” Zillow writes.
According to the company, no neighborhood received more love per home than The Oaks, which is a luxury gated community in Calabasas, California.
This community’s median home value averages $3 million, and has been home to affluent celebrities including Britney Spears, Ozzy Osbourne and Jennifer Lopez.
But The Oaks wasn’t the only revered city in 2018, as metros all over the country received their fair share of loving.
“Upscale neighborhoods on the other side of the country received plenty of love, too. Lake Nona Estates, a neighborhood in Southeast Orlando with a median home value of $1.49 million, is the most loved neighborhood in the area,” Zillow writes. “The Atlanta neighborhood of Kingswood – median home value $1.59 million – also proved to be a strong object of desire for home shoppers and/or voyeuristic home dreamers."
Notably, Zillow notes American home shoppers were also enamored with vacation spots and locales that facilitate popular leisure activities. This was especially so with Ellisville, Massachusetts, which received more love per home in 2018 than any other neighborhood in the Boston metro.
Interestingly, Zillow highlights that many home shoppers love the prospect of investment opportunities.
“In several of the nation’s largest markets, the most-loved neighborhood is one situated near a city center, with a median home value that is swiftly increasing but still low relative to the metro,” Zillow writes. “Added attention to neighborhoods meeting these criteria could suggest that people expect the country’s urbanization to continue – and that many may hope to profit as the relative value of these urban properties to increase.”
According to Zillow, these were the most loved housing markets of 2018:
(click to enlarge; courtesy of Zillow)
NOTE: Zillow defines most-loved neighborhood as one having the highest rate of net user saves per household.