For a lot of people, houses almost seem untouchable lately. The market is just absolutely insane and a total seller's market. The amount of people who are foregoing all inspections and overbidding asking price by at least in some cases, $50,000, just to be CONSIDERED the winning bid is astronomical.

And while that's happening all across the country, it happens to be very focused here in Northern New England. According to Realtor.com, when ranking the Top 20 hottest housing markets in the entire country right now (at least as of April), New England has footprints all over the place, making up 1/5 of the list. Even better, New England makes up 1/3 of the Top 15!

That's right, FIVE New England markets are considered the biggest in the country right now. Massachusetts made the Top 20 with Springfield checking in at #15 and Worcester just a couple of spots higher at #12. But it's Northern New England that's really shining, making up JUST UNDER HALF OF THE TOP 8.

Real estate
Pawel Gaul
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According to Realtor.com, Portland, Maine is the 8th hottest market in the entire country, with a median home listing price of $462,000 -- ALMOST HALF A MILLION DOLLARS. New Hampshire, though, can snag bragging rights from Maine on this one, as they won the Top 2 spots in the entire country, with Manchester being considered the absolute hottest real estate market in the country right now, with Concord just behind at #2.

For what it's worth, Manchester's median listing price is $400,000, while Concord's is just shy of that at $379,000.

It seems like the rest of the country is finally catching up to what the rest of us have known for most of or all of our lives -- New England (and more specifically, Northern New England), is the best place in the country to live. (Unfortunately, now that they're realizing what we've already known, there's a chance that homes around here may become even less affordable because of that fact.)

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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