Home sold in the Chicago area’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood nearly 9% above the asking price for the third quarter, making it the “hottest” ZIP code in the country, according to a report from ZipRealty, a national real estate brokerage firm. ZipRealty tracked data from 5,400 cities in 33 markets to pinpoint the most-searched cities among house hunters on its website and to compare offers submitted by buyers. ZIP codes are considered the “hottest” markets when sellers get more than they ask for a property. In the third quarter, the heat spread away from the usual concentration in California. Five ZIP codes in the state made the top-10 “hottest” list, according to the report, down from seven in the previous quarter. Three of the ten were in the Bay Area, including two in Oakland and one in Berkley. Other markets in the top-10 are Covington, Wash., which is just outside of Seattle, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., North Las Vegas, and Chicago’s downtown Loop. Condos in that downtown area sold for an average $1 million or 5% more than the asking price. “While we’ve seen California top the list of the country’s ‘hottest’ home sale markets for some time, we’re now seeing signs that buyers in other markets across the country – including hard-hit regions like Florida and Las Vegas – may be taking advantage of the historically low pricing and interest rates characterizing today’s market,” John Oldham, director of marketing for ZipRealty. But while the hot markets are spreading out, homes are generally selling for less, according to ZipRealty. Homes in the country’s top-10 markets sold for an average 5% above asking price in the third quarter, down from 13% in the same quarter last year. The nation’s “coldest” ZIP code was in Durham, N.C. Homes selling there fetched only 81% of the list price in the quarter. “The gap between homes selling most above and below asking price appears to be decreasing, an encouraging sign that prices may be stabilizing and both buyers and sellers could be adjusting to the new market reality,” Oldham said. Write to Jon Prior.