KENTWOOD, Mich. -- West Michigan is once again topping a national ranking for places to live. Kentwood was ranked the hottest zip code of 2018 by Realtor.com.
The website bases their list off the time it takes to sell a property and how often homes are viewed in that area on their website. They say the 49508 zip code is popularly largely in part due to millennials looking for homes in smaller, more suburban areas.
“We as millennials look for different stuff in real estate," said Lauren Rockel, a realtor and buyer specialist with The Blehm Group. "We’re not planning on having huge families, so bigger homes aren’t really first of mind for millennials, but having a nice yard for our dog is and in Kentwood you can get a little bit more space than you would in the city. It’s really walkable.”
Realtor.com says homes in the area are relatively affordable, with the median price coming in at just under $200,000. They also say homes are usually on the market for an average of just 14 days.
Realtors in the Grand Rapids area credit that to the expansion of big businesses as well as the good schools, stores and restaurants in the area. They say it's sort of a cycle: with more businesses coming in, more people will move here, and more businesses will continue to want to come here.
"The average age in Kentwood is a lot younger than let's say downtown Grand Rapids," said realtor Jim Blehm with The Blehm Group.
The only other Michigan city on Realtor's list of 50 is Ferndale.
