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58 | M REPORT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST DATA Kansas Town Ranks as Zillow's Most-Searched Market in 2022 A study of the nation's most searched markets found the town of Prairie Village at the top of its popularity rankings. A ccording to a data analysis from Zillow, Prairie Village, Kansas, came in as the most searched market of 2022, showcas- ing continued interest in the Mid- west region, marking a dramatic shift from 2021's predominantly leaders from West Coast. Using Zillow page-view traffic, available housing inventory, price appreciation, sales data, and other housing metrics that indicate con- sumer demand, Zillow analyzed thousands of ZIP codes within the nation's 100 largest metropoli- tan areas to create a ranking of the site's most popular U.S. cities. Through their analysis, Zillow ranked the nation's top markets in several categories, including Most Popular Overall, Most Popular Large City, Most Popular Vacation Town, Most Popular Seaside Town, Most Popular Retirement Town, Most Popular Small Town, and Top College Town. "The most popular places on Zillow showcase a few trends we've noticed over the course of the year—most notably that affordability has become the chief driver of the market, said Anushna Prakash, Economic Data Analyst at Zillow. "The Midwest and most Northeastern markets saw relatively small run-ups in home values over the course of the pandemic and now are still affordable enough for residents to shop in." The shift from fully remote to hybrid working situations may have played a factor in the Zillow searches as well. While the percentage of employ- ees working remotely all or most of the time is lower than in the early pandemic, the share working from home at least some of the time is now much higher, accord- ing to Pew Research. This may help explain the higher popular- ity in 2022 of vacation spots and small towns within a somewhat reasonable, occasional commute to downtown employment centers. Most Popular on Zillow Overall: Prairie Village, Kansas An upscale suburban com- munity just minutes from downtown Kansas City, Prairie Village jumped to the top of Zillow's popularity rankings with site-leading page views of for-sale listings per day. Established on the Kansas-Missouri state line and featuring several activity-filled parks, posh shops, and restau- rants, Prairie Village also tops Zillow's popularity rankings for small towns. "I think when most people are looking at houses, they are look- ing at building a home, and that goes beyond the four walls of the structure you live in and expands to the community," said Earvin Ray, Owner of Ray Homes in Kansas City. "Prairie Village offers the trifecta of beautiful homes, a spectrum of accessible price points, and great amenities, such as highly rated schools, commu- nity events, and local shopping." The Kansas City metro area is one of several Midwest markets still seeing robust competition for houses because they're relatively affordable. Mortgage costs as a share of income and the years needed for renters to save up for a down payment are far lower than the national average. Rounding out the top three overall on Zillow in popularity were Derry, New Hampshire, and Bon Air, Virginia. Most Popular Large City: Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids, Michigan, topped Zillow's popularity chart among cities with populations greater than 200,000, driven by category-leading page views per listing and relatively affordable homes. A wide selection of brew- eries and a growing local foodie scene are putting Grand Rapids on the map for connoisseurs. Richmond, Virginia, landed in second place, while Omaha, Nebraska, took third. The three top results led the category for page views per listing, and all feature typical home values sig- nificantly lower than the national average of $357,733. Most Popular Seaside Town: Beverly, Massachusetts The Boston suburb of Beverly, Massachusetts, features miles of coastline and easily acces- sible public parks. Gloucester,