--- title: The Most Popular Places to Look for Homes to Buy in 2021, According to Zillow description: Zillow named the most popular towns and cities to shop for homes in 2021, as the housing market went wild and home sales and prices spiked. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true published: '2021-12-21T19:01:34.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:18:27.000Z' section: Housing tags: - buy homes - Guides - Home price word_count: 422 canonical: https://money.com/popular-places-zillow-homes-2021/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Ariel View Of South Lake Tahoe](https://img.money.com/2021/12/News-10-Most-Popular-Places-On-Zillow-2021.jpg) New [data](http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2021-12-21-South-Lake-Tahoe-named-Zillows-most-popular-place-of-2021) from real estate giant Zillow reveals the most popular places to browse and buy homes during this year's incredibly [hot market](https://money.com/summer-home-buying-outlook-tips/). South Lake Tahoe, California, took the top slot, and it’s easy to see why. The city boasts ample access to outdoor activities and proximity to larger cities in California and Nevada — making it the perfect weekend escape. It’s about an hour from Reno and a two-hour drive to Sacramento (and its suburb of Rocklin, California, ranked on Money’s [2021 Best Place to Live](https://money.com/hottest-cities-buying-selling-homes-2022/) list). The typical home in South Lake Tahoe is valued at $692,792, according to Zillow’s home value index (though it’s a good idea to take Zillow’s home valuations with a [grain of salt](https://money.com/zillow-zestimate-accuracy-flipping/)). Listings in South Lake Tahoe averaged 5,469 page views on Zillow’s platform. In addition to naming the most popular place overall to look for homes in the U.S., Zillow also listed winners in different categories — like most popular beach town and most popular retirement town. The rankings for each category were determined using Zillow’s page-view traffic, housing inventory and price appreciation, as well as other metrics that measure consumer demand like typical home values over the last year, the company said. Most places on the list are located in the western United States, where the housing market continues to surge (one listing in San Francisco recently sold for [$1 million](https://money.com/home-1-million-over-asking-price/) *above* its asking price). The most popular small town in 2021 was Calabasas, California, a ritzy suburb of Los Angeles, where the typical house is worth more than $1.5 million. Zillow’s most popular beach town is more affordable: The average house in Newport, Oregon, is valued at $428,534. California is also home to Zillow’s most popular vacation town: Big Bear Lake. The most popular retirement town was Lavallette, New Jersey. Tempe, Arizona, home to Arizona State, was named the most popular college town. Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton says the list of 2021’s most popular places were influenced by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "People have turned to Zillow to escape and dream of the possibilities a move could bring,” she said in a statement. “Meanwhile, those who can now work remotely, at least occasionally, are exploring new opportunities in areas that offer relative affordability and year-round outdoor living." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/popular-places-zillow-homes-2021/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Housing Market", "item": "https://money.com/housing-market/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Most Popular Places to Look for Homes to Buy in 2021, According to Zillow" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/popular-places-zillow-homes-2021/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/popular-places-zillow-homes-2021/", "name": "The Most Popular Places to Look for Homes to Buy in 2021, According to Zillow", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2021-12-21T19:01:34.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/popular-places-zillow-homes-2021/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/popular-places-zillow-homes-2021/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:18:27.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The Most Popular Places to Look for Homes to Buy in 2021, According to Zillow", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2021/12/News-10-Most-Popular-Places-On-Zillow-2021.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1919, "caption": "News-10-Most-Popular-Places-On-Zillow-2021" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. 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