"This spring's housing market may have been subdued nationally, but April's hottest markets still saw high demand and a rapid pace of sales," says economic data analyst Hannah Jones in the latest Realtor.com® Hottest Markets list.

The list ranks cities by examining two variables: demand (measured by the number of views per listing) and pace (measured by how long a listing stays on the market before being snapped up).

Concord, the capital of New Hampshire, was the city that took the top spot for the second time in the history of this data in April. In this New England town on the Merrimack River, homes were viewed 3.8 times more than the typical listing nationwide, and stayed on the market for only 17 days before buyers flooded in. That's a full month less than the typical US home, which languished for about 49 days in April.

What does Concord have going for it that makes it so hot? Proximity to higher-priced Boston (an hour's drive north) and one of the most tax-friendly states, with no state income or sales taxes.

Many of the markets at the top of the list have what Jones calls an "affordability advantage", although this affordability is often relative.

For example, the two most popular markets, Concord, New Hampshire and Manchester, have median home prices ($522,000 and $533,000 respectively) that are higher than the national median of $430,000. However, these prices are a bargain compared to the $839,000 you'd have to pay in nearby Boston (which, by the way, is the 14th hottest market and by far the most expensive on this list).

As Pamela Young, a realtor with Re/Max Insight who has sold homes in both Concord and Manchester, says, "It's nice to be able to travel to Boston without having to live there and pay their taxes."

The top five hottest markets are a number of towns in the Northeast, including Hartford, CT, Rochester, NY and Springfield, MA. (Large cities include major cities and surrounding towns, suburbs and smaller urban areas).

In fact, Jones adds, "nine of the 12 northeastern markets on this month's list are clustered together, generally around the Boston area. Both Massachusetts and the larger New England region boast strong employment numbers, outpacing the US in job growth last year. High housing demand and tight inventories are putting upward pressure on prices, so buyers are looking for affordability further afield in the region".

Despite the sun shining in the West and South, the region is in a deep freeze when it comes to accessing the hottest markets, failing to make the top 20 list for the second month in a row. While the Northeast had the most markets with 12 cities on the list, the Midwest represented the remaining eight.

Illinois and Missouri each had one of the hottest markets on the list, while Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana each had two on the list. All Midwestern markets saw an average of 2.5 times more views than usual and spent an average of two weeks less time on the market.

Homebuyers are heading inland, hoping that lower home prices will allow them to escape today's high mortgage rates, which currently average 6.39 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

"Overall, 13 of the hottest markets had median listing prices below the national median in April," Jones added.

The average listing price in these Midwestern markets was $310,000. But the lowest priced Midwest market was Rockford, Illinois, which had an average listing price of $180,000, 58.1 per cent lower than the rest of the country in April.

The buyers are out there," said Rion Tovar-South, designated managing broker and owner of Weichert Real Estate's Tovar Properties in Rockford, Illinois.

Tovar-South adds that they were attracted to Rockford by "lower taxes and more attractive home prices." In addition, our brokers are seeing buyers moving in from the Chicago area, as well as individuals who previously moved out of state moving back."

But how long will home prices stay low?

However, demand from homebuyers in these hottest markets means available homes are disappearing fast.

"While inventory in the U.S. increased 48.3 per cent relative to last April, all of the hottest markets except Fort Wayne, Indiana, are seeing slower inventory growth or even inventory declines," Jones said.

"Inventory levels in our markets are still low. We definitely need more sellers to list," Tovar-South added. In fact, inventory in Rockford has dropped 23 per cent compared to a year ago.

And fewer homes for sale have increased competition among buyers, which could lead to a bidding war. Bidding wars lead to higher house prices as sellers see the opportunity to cash in.

Even in places where prices are lower, home prices in these popular markets increased by an average of 17.2% year-on-year. To put this percentage in perspective, consider this: it is seven times higher than the national price growth rate of 2.5 per cent.

"April was the ninth month in a row that average price growth in the hottest markets climbed more than price growth in the United States, which has been declining since June," Jones said.

As a result, buyers looking to snag a good deal may not want to wait too long to start shopping.