The hottest housing markets of 2020 are far from the coasts

Forget Seattle, Denver and San Francisco. Boise, Idaho, is poised to be the hottest housing market at the start of the next decade.

A new report from Realtor.com identified the housing markets that are expected to see the most notable home sales and price growth in 2020. Boise ranked No. 1, a marked increase from No. 8 a year ago.

Driving Boise’s climb up the Realtor.com ranking is the massive influx of new residents from pricier parts of the country — in particular, California. Many of these out-of-state buyers are drawn by the city’s mild climate, outdoor lifestyle, strong schools and its major employers, including HP HPQ, -0.10%  and Micron Technologies MU, +0.87%.

Boise’s already seen a boom in terms of housing. A recent report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed that home prices in the Idaho state capital have risen 11.1% over the last year.

After Boise, McAllen, Texas, and Tucson, Ariz., ranked No. 2 and No. 3 on Realtor.com’s list. McAllen’s affordable home prices, combined with Texas’ favorable tax environment, have made the border city an attractive destination for home buyers looking to move. Tucson, meanwhile, has benefitted from an influx of retirees looking for warm weather and young adults looking to study at the University of Arizona or work for popular companies that have set up shop there like Amazon and Texas Instruments 

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Less Is More! Tiny House on Wheels Is This Week’s Most Popular Home

tiny house on wheels tucked among the trees off the banks of Tub Lake in Minnesota is the week’s most popular listing on realtor.com®—and it could be yours for less than $100,000.

Chic, modern, and artfully laid out to make the most of the compact space, the tiny house sits on more than 2.5 acres in the northwest corner of the state. It’s an ideal vacation spot in the land of 10,000 lakes, or it could even be a year-round home base for a buyer looking to simplify. Alternatively, it could be hitched up to your truck and driven to an ideal destination.

If you thought tiny homes were a novelty way past their sell-by date, take a look at the hulking spreads beat out by this petite portable home. The modest and minimal dwelling drew more views than Tom Brady’s Massachusetts estateVanna White’s Beverly Hills compound, and the historic childhood home of General Robert E. Lee in Virginia.

We also saw a spike in traffic for two modern farmhouses worthy of a double take: the “Barenhaus” estate in Pennsylvania and a recently completed shiplap fantasy in Ohio.

But it’s the sensible, yet whimsical, tiny house on wheels that racked up the most clicks this week, proving that living well doesn’t require a ton of square footage—just smart planning and a taste for adventure.

Roll along with us as we count down the entire list of this week’s most popular homes…

See all the homes here!

Mortgage Rates Decrease

Despite the economic slowdown due to weakening manufacturing and corporate investment, the consumer side of the economy remains on solid ground. The fifty-year low in the unemployment rate combined with low mortgage rates has led to increased homebuyer demand this year. Much of this strength is coming from entry-level buyers – the first-time homebuyer share of the loans Freddie Mac purchased in 2019 is forty-six percent, a two-decade high.

Bless! Converted Church From 1873 Is This Week’s Most Popular Home

Praise be! A Pennsylvania church converted into a cozy home sent clicks soaring toward the heavens this week. The former house of worship from the late 1800s wound up as this week’s most popular home on realtor.com®.

From the heavy wood double doors to the original stained glass and church bell, the property has held onto certain features of its ecclesiastical past, while being effortlessly transformed into a bright, airy family house.

Apart from this divine cathedral conversion, you also clicked on a brand-new castle in Illinois decorated in a pristine Scandinavian aesthetic, designer Betsey Johnson‘s $2 million hot-pink beach mobile home, and a Spanish Colonial Revival in the O.C. with a crow’s nest rooftop deck to take in water and city views. Plus there’s an appearance by former Packer wide receiver Randall Cobb, who’s selling his home in Green Bay, WI, after parting ways with the team last year.

No helmet required—but we ask you to tackle the complete list of this week’s most popular homes by scrolling down…

See the homes here!

Massive $14.8M Tennessee Mansion Is the Week’s Most Popular Home

It isn’t owned by an A-lister, but that fact didn’t put a damper on the public’s interest in a massive, 61-acre estate in Byrdstown, TN. The $14.8 million lakefront spread racked up the most clicks this week and wound up as the week’s most popular home on realtor.com®.

The gated mansion sits just two hours outside Nashville, high on a bluff overlooking Dale Hollow Lake. The huge, 31,600 square-foot home casts an imposing shadow on the rugged and pristine terrain below. It was completed in 2017 and is currently owned by an entrepreneur, according to listing agent Charlie Neese.

“The current owner believes it to be the second-largest house in the state at the moment,” says Neese. The agent then dashed our hopes for a country music connection. “The owner is an entrepreneur, not a celebrity from Nashville. It’s such a unique property, that’s the reason it’s attracting so much attention.”

And it wasn’t the only waterfront property attracting your clicks this week. You were also interested in a coastal Maine residence with awe-inspiring ocean views, a kooky Kansas mansion outfitted with tunnels for scuba diving, and a luxe Jersey Shore penthouse overlooking the Atlantic.

Dive right in and experience all of this week’s most popular properties…

See the properties here!

Burnin’ Up! This Week’s Most Popular Home Was Truly on Fire

An enterprising agent named Dylan Jaeck wanted everyone to check out the smokin’ deal he had on sale—an empty lot in Florida where a home had burned to the ground.

So instead of the customary shots of the vacant lot and its location, he used photos from the actual house fire. And the internet took notice, making it this week’s most popular property on realtor.com®.

Jaeck told us that his blazingly brilliant idea worked as he had expected it would, and now the property is under contract for close to the asking price.

Here are just a couple of the social media reactions to the photos:

Can’t stop thinking about this https://t.co/5VSQFJXike listing of a house for 100k that is literally on fire pic.twitter.com/vuA8hoGAGX

— Hayley Phillips (@somecallmehay) July 31, 2019

Hot listing: Florida house hits market with a photo of the place on fire https://t.co/arzytT3YfJ pic.twitter.com/NRpg46x0fi

— Cristina Alves (@__cristinaalves) August 4, 2019

“I wanted something that would grab somebody’s attention and show how hot of a deal this was for a potential investor to build a home or to fix,” Jaeck says.

His wasn’t the only home to crack our list thanks to attention-grabbing photos. A Virginia home also went viral using the tried-and-true T. rex costume concept. That home is also now pending sale.

Other popular properties this week included a massive, $75 million Beverly Hills megamansion, Phil Kessel’s strangely barren mansion near Pittsburgh, and a wildly decorated Victorian in Scranton, PA.

See all of the homes HERE