This Bergen County Town Is 3rd Most Desired Zip Code In US, Real Estate Website Says

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Is there an ideal town to reside in the U.S., with safe neighborhoods, a fun downtown, good schools, and a reasonable commute?

Apparently, Ridgewood, N.J. is in the running for the most desirable town nationwide.

Realtor.com just published its annual list of"Hottest Zip Codes of 2023," and Ridgewood comes up third in the entire country. It's also the only New Jersey town to make the top 15. Two other towns in the Garden State made the top 50, one in Central Jersey and one in South Jersey.

"Realtor.com’s Hottest Zip Code rankings take into account two aspects of the housing market: 1) market demand, as measured by unique viewers per property on Realtor.com, and 2) the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active on Realtor.com," says the site.

Ridgewood is clearly doing something right, as the high school recently made the top 25 in the state, according to Niche.com rankings.

Are The Towns Affordable?

The list says that the average Ridgewood property spends only 18 days on the market.

The median listing price in Ridgewood is $1.184M, the highest of all towns in the top 10.

But the site says that affordability was a driving factor in many of the top choices.

The site notes, "Six of the ten hottest zip codes on the list are in the Northeast, while the Midwest holds four spots on the list. The Southern and Western regions are not represented in this year’s ten hottest zips as buyer interest has shifted away from the areas that are generally unaffordable, or have become less affordable due to significant price growth during the pandemic."

The Top 50

The only two towns ahead of Ridgewood on the national list were Gahanna, OH (Columbus area), and Southington, CT (the Hartford area).

In the top 50 list, two New Jersey towns — Sewell, in the Philadelphia metro area, and Hightstown in Central Jersey (near Princeton) — also make the list. Sewell, in fact, comes in at number 19 nationwide.

Looking to eyeball some properties in these towns or others? You can put the name of any town into Patch's real estate listings and see details and photos. For instance, in Ridgewood, here's a just-listed farmhouse colonial for $545,000.

Here Are The Top 10:

1. Gahanna, Ohio
2. Southington, Connecticut
3. Ridgewood, New Jersey
4. Andover, Massachusetts
5. Nazareth, Pennsylvania
6. Highland, Indiana
7. Trenton, Michigan
8. Norwalk, Connecticut
9. Pittsford, New York
10. Ballwin, Missouri.

See the "Hottest Zip Code" lists on Realtor.com here.