SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Can't live without your artisanal coffee, avocado toast or an indie record store? Columbus is the place for you, according to a new data collaboration from realtor.com, a leading online real estate destination operated by News Corp subsidiary Move, Inc., and Yelp, the company that connects consumers with great local businesses. Released today, the realtor.com Yelp Hottest Hipster Markets in America list identifies the most in-demand housing markets in the U.S. with the highest concentrations of "hipster" businesses for home buyers looking to embrace indie culture.
In rank order, the Hottest Hipster Markets in America by ZIP code include: Columbus (43202), Seattle (98122), San Diego (92104), Fort Wayne, Ind. (46802), Rochester, N.Y. (14620), San Francisco (94117), Long Beach, Calif. (90814), Louisville, Ky. (40217), Grand Rapids, Mich. (49506) and Colorado Springs, Colo. (17820).
"Although their opinions about their music and fashion may be out of the norm, when it comes to real estate -- hipsters have a knack for getting it right," said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com®. "Based on our research, there's clear evidence that "hipster" popularity – in markets like Austin, Texas – has led to mainstream interest and higher home prices over time. Whether it's the farm-to-table restaurants or urban renewal projects that were already underway, a concentration of hipsters seems to be an indicator of a hot housing market."
From a housing perspective, all the markets on the realtor.com® Yelp Hottest Hipster Markets in America list have strong market dynamics, showing healthy buyer demand with homes selling in an average of 30 days. Each market also has low or average unemployment rates ranging from 2.7 percent to 4.6 percent, compared to 4.4 nationally.
With all the hipster businesses in town it comes as no surprise that these markets are also highly sought after by millennials. Overall, millennials -- ages 25 to 34 -- in the top ten markets make up an average of 22 percent of the population, higher than the national population share of millennials of 13 percent. Additionally, these markets are continuing to draw interest from a younger crowd, as the millennial age group is viewing property listings at a rate 1.2 times greater than the share of millennials already living in the area, indicating strong interest from other millennials wanting to move into these neighborhoods.
Yelp data shows that mentions of "hipster" occur across a wide range of businesses, from music venues and dive bars, to restaurants, barbers, and vinyl record shops. While some cities and ZIP codes, like Seattle, may be more recognizable as traditional hipster havens, Yelp data shows that there are many under-the-radar locations where Yelpers have identified neighborhoods that tout cool, hipster businesses. The average star rating of businesses with mentions of hipster in the Columbus zip code is 3.8, with the top 10 ZIP codes averaging 4 stars. Beyond searching for hipster businesses, Yelp also offers tools for homeowners like Request a Quote, which allows people to send requests to up to 10 home service providers at once.
"Yelpers are great at identifying up-and-coming areas and businesses, which allows us to predict trends as well as uncover detailed data on what's happening in local economies right now," said Carl Bialik, Yelp data editor. "While 'hipster' is something of a cliche, it turns out to be a useful term to uncover the types of businesses and attributes we often associate with cool hunters, such as visually appealing interiors and less touristy parts of town."
The realtor.com Yelp Hottest Hipster Markets in America list was developed by first leveraging Yelp data to rank ZIP codes by the greatest gap between the share of reviews in the ZIP containing the word "hipster" and the share in the ZIP's city. The realtor.com® Market Hotness Index was then calculated for each market (based on realtor.com® page views and days on market). Markets were then ranked based on a composite index made up of both the Yelp differential and the realtor.com hotness index. Only one ZIP code per metropolitan area was included. The neighborhoods listed have the most businesses associated with that neighborhood within the ZIP code.