America’s hottest housing markets are all located in the Northeast and Midwest, according to a new ZIP code-level analysis of the most in-demand housing markets.

Realtor.com released its hottest ZIP codes report for 2026, which found that those two regions swept the top 10 rankings for the fourth consecutive year.

Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, told FOX Business in an interview that “a lot of these ZIP codes fall in suburbs that are on the outer ring of major metro areas like Boston, New York, Philadelphia.”

“It kind of paints this picture that you can still commute to the busy city center for your job, but you’re taking your big city income where you can get a little more bang for your buck, more space, more of that established suburban quiet life,” she said.

A TALE OF TWO HOUSING MARKETS: LUXURY DEMAND SURGES AS AFFORDABILITY SQUEEZES STARTER-HOME BUYERS

Housing supply in the communities that comprised the top 10 of this year’s rankings is especially tight, as Jones noted that inventory levels are running about 60% below pre-pandemic levels in those communities – whereas inventories across the country are just 11% below where they were before the pandemic.

She also said that many home shoppers in these markets are coming from within the metro area they’re closest to, as opposed to being from outside the region to move, adding that “we’re not seeing as much of that cross-country migration type of buyer demand.”

Another characteristic of those markets is that the scarcity is driving buyers to pay above asking price, with nine of the top 10 seeing homes sell at or above asking price with an average sale-to-list ratio of 103.8%. Around the country, the typical home sold for about 2.3% below its list price in the first half of 2026.

THESE AMERICAN CITIES ARE TRENDING TOWARD A BUYER’S MARKET

Buyers are also putting more money down when purchasing a home in the ZIP codes that make up the top 10 rankings as opposed to the national average.

“When we’re looking at these buyer profiles, we see that they tend to put down a lot as a down payment. Across these 10 top ZIP codes, the typical buyer is putting down about 17% as the down payment, compared to about 13% nationally – and both of those figures are also higher than they were even before the pandemic,” Jones said.

“We also know they tend to have higher credit scores, and all this is pointing to this idea that today’s borrowers have to be more financially equipped and financially ready to participate in today’s housing market because with mortgage rates in the mid-to-high 6% range,” she said.

Jones added that the buyers who are participating in these markets “tend to be very financially able to participate, they have a little bit more money to put down, and they’re more financially robust than the typical U.S. buyer.”

HERE’S THE INCOME NEEDED TO AFFORD THE TYPICAL AMERICAN HOME

Realtor.com’s rankings are based on an algorithm that considers market demand based on unique viewers per property on the Realtor.com website, as well as the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains actively listed on the platform.

Here’s Realtor.com’s list of the hottest ZIP codes in America:

1) 01960 – Peabody, Massachusetts

2) 07042 – Montclair, New Jersey

3) 08080 – Sewell, New Jersey

4) 14450 – Fairport, New York

5) 01085 – Westfield, Massachusetts

6) 48154 – Livonia, Michigan

7) 17543 – Lititz, Pennsylvania

8) 06473 – North Haven, Connecticut

9) 53151 – New Berlin, Wisconsin

10) 60187 – Wheaton, Illinois

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The five oil supermajors- Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies- made a combined $48 billion profit between April and June, helped by higher fossil fuel prices amid hostilities between the US and Iran, following which oil prices went flying to over $100 per barrel.

The companies also generated nearly $90 billion in cash during the quarter, the highest level on record and above the cash generated following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

The strong earnings have also drawn political criticism. US President Donald Trump last week criticised Exxon and Chevron for making “too much money” from higher fuel prices during the Iran war and renewed his call for lower prices at the pump.

Where is the money going?

Much of the additional cash has gone towards building reserves and reducing debt, according to IEEFA’s (Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysts ) Williams-Derry to CNBC. Cash reserves across the five supermajors increased by a little over $17 billion from the previous quarter.

Williams-Derry described the industry’s financial approach as one that relies on periodic price spikes, such as those triggered by the Ukraine and Iran crises, to strengthen finances. He said periods of high prices and fuel shortages provide financial relief after longer stretches of low and stable prices.
CNBC reported that the companies were focusing on areas they can control during the Middle East conflict, including operational performance, trading and optimisation.BP CEO Meg O’Neill said the company was concentrating on reliability across its upstream assets, where it produces oil, as well as its refining operations. She said BP had also changed the way its refineries were operating to maximise the availability of products most needed by consumers, including jet fuel and diesel.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan described volatility as “the new normal” and said higher commodity prices had provided a strong tailwind for the company’s results.

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents about 600 drilling companies, refiners and other industry participants, said oil and gas is a cyclical business that should be assessed over decades rather than quarters. It also opposed calls for a windfall tax on excess profits.

The API said the industry was delivering record production and world-leading refining during one of the biggest global energy disruptions in decades, while continuing to invest in supply, infrastructure and resilience.

On windfall taxes, the lobby group said such taxes would not lower consumer prices and could discourage the long-term investment needed to strengthen supply, infrastructure and energy resilience.

Where is oil headed?

The duration of the supply disruption will be a key factor in determining where oil prices go from here. JPMorgan estimates that every additional month of disruption could add about $7 to $8 a barrel to Brent prices. If the disruption lasts three months, the bank expects average monthly Brent prices to reach around $114 a barrel.

Goldman Sachs has similarly warned that Brent could rise to $120 a barrel if shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit route, continue.

Read more: US Iran war: Trump may ditch nuclear deal plan if Tehran reopens HormuzIts base case, however, remains that tensions in the Middle East will eventually ease. In that scenario, Goldman expects Brent to average $80 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 a barrel next year. It also cautioned that risks remain tilted to the upside due to the possibility of prolonged disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Helen Crowder’s family is linked with Raleigh in a slightly different way.

“We lived in Grantham in the 50s and I was promised a Raleigh bicycle if I passed my 11+ [the exam to get in to grammar school],” she said.

“Luckily I did that and my parents said, ‘right, we’ll have to go to Nottingham’ which was quite an adventure because we had to get the train.

“But I had that bike for a long, long time.

“I was tall, so I got a full-sized bike and I used it through school and my teens and used it when I started work.

“I moved away when I married and I left it with my mother but when we came back I got it again and rode with each of my three children in turn on the back.

“It was a super-strong, well made bike, really excellent and I only had to give it up when it was really worn out.

“I must have ridden it for the best part of 50 years.”

Shares of Cupid dropped over 2% on Monday even after the condom-maker reported a whopping 3x surge in net profit for the April-June quarter of the ongoing financial year 2027.

Cupid’s multibagger shares fell to Rs 256.80 apiece on the NSE. The company on Saturday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 44 crore for the first quarter of FY27, from Rs 15 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The firm’s revenue from operations rallied 159% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 155 crore during the quarter under review.

EBITDA rallied 265% YoY to Rs 60 crore, while the EBITDA margin improved 1,127 bps to 39% during the first quarter.

Cupid began FY27 with strong momentum across its international B2B healthcare and domestic consumer healthcare and FMCG businesses, supported by healthy execution across key operating segments, it said.

Strong growth in operating income reflects the increasing contribution of its core operating businesses, reinforcing the quality of earnings and the sustainability of its growth trajectory, Cupid said in its press release, adding that it expects sizeable orders across its IVD Kits portfolio from multiple state governments in India, along with significant international opportunities following the receipt of CE certifications.

Several opportunities are in the final stages of the award process, providing a strong near-term growth pipeline, it further said.
Cupid has implemented a minimum 10% price increase across its export portfolio, supporting improved realisations and margin expansion, while a favourable USD/INR environment has supported export realisations, it said. Supported by a strong order book, expanding consumer healthcare and FMCG portfolio, healthy international B2B demand and expectations of robust performance during the second half of FY27, Cupid has increased its FY27 guidance to Rs 725-750 crore in revenue and Rs 210-225 crore in net profit.Also read | FIIs turn buyers after two quarters of selling; 13 stocks rally up to 665%, 5 become multibaggers

What Cupid management said

Looking ahead, Cupid remains focused on disciplined execution, maintaining healthy margins and building a future-ready organisation through continued investments in manufacturing, product innovation, international B2B healthcare and consumer healthcare and FMCG businesses, said Aditya Kumar Halwasiya, Chairman and Managing Director, Cupid.

He believes that these strategic initiatives position Cupid to deliver sustainable long-term growth and create enduring value for all its stakeholders.

Also read | Cupid’s multibagger stock turns Rs 1 lakh investment into Rs 87 lakh in just 3 years

Cupid share price

Cupid shares have gained 14% in a week and 24% in a month, and are overall up 150% in 2026 so far. In the longer term, the multibagger stock has delivered a whopping 683% return over one year, 8,923% in three years and 10,979% in five years.

The company currently has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 35,191 crore.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

LAS VEGAS — The man accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur went on trial Monday in Las Vegas, nearly three decades after the drive-by shooting that has stood as one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in American music history.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in connection with Shakur’s death. Jury selection began Monday before Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny and is expected to take about a week, with the full trial projected to run as long as a month, and by some estimates up to six weeks.

Shakur, 25, was fatally shot on September 7, 1996, while stopped at a red light near East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, about a block off the Las Vegas Strip, after attending a Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand. He died six days later at University Medical Center. The shooting also wounded Death Row Records executive Marion “Suge” Knight, who was driving the car. Knight is now serving a 28-year sentence in a California prison in connection with a separate, unrelated 2015 killing.

Davis has been jailed without bail since his arrest in September 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison. According to court filings and reporting on the case, Davis rejected a plea deal ahead of trial, opting instead to fight the charge despite the risk of a life sentence.

Prosecutors allege Davis was the on-the-ground leader of the group responsible for the shooting and supplied the firearm used in the attack, though the case is not expected to identify who actually fired the shots. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo has previously described Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

What makes the case unusual, legal analysts say, is the near-total absence of traditional physical evidence. There is no murder weapon, no recovered getaway vehicle and no surveillance footage of the shooting. Instead, prosecutors are relying almost entirely on Davis’s own public statements — including his 2019 memoir “Compton Street Legend,” years of podcast and documentary interviews, and statements he gave to police — to build their case.

“In this case, almost all of the evidence the state will seek to introduce, will be to establish the credibility of Defendant’s various accounts of his role in the killing,” prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing.

That reliance on Davis’s own words has created what legal observers describe as an unusual courtroom dynamic: prosecutors will argue that the man they allege is a killer is nonetheless a credible narrator of his own crime, while defense attorneys are expected to portray their client as an unreliable storyteller who fabricated details to help sell books and boost his public profile. Since his arrest, Davis has said his previous accounts were false and were made largely to generate publicity, and he has blamed a co-author for inserting inaccurate information into his memoir.

Marc DiGiacomo has pointed to the irony at the center of the prosecution’s case, noting that Davis’s own public statements are what ultimately led to charges being filed. “Had Mr. Davis never opened his mouth, never written the book,” the case likely would not have resulted in prosecution, he told the court, according to reporting on a pretrial hearing.

Davis’s history with the case dates back decades. He has said publicly, including in his memoir, that he provided the gun used in the shooting to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who authorities have long believed was the actual gunman. Anderson denied involvement before his death in an unrelated shooting in 1998 and was never charged. Authorities allege the killing was carried out in retaliation for a physical altercation between Anderson and Shakur inside the MGM Grand casino just hours before the shooting.

At the time of his 2023 arrest, Davis, a former high-ranking figure in the South Side Compton Crips street gang, spoke candidly with the arresting officer about the significance of the case. Asked what he was being taken into custody for, Davis responded that it was “the biggest case in Las Vegas history.”

In pretrial rulings, Judge Kierny allowed prosecutors to introduce excerpts from Davis’s book and media interviews at trial, finding that a prior proffer agreement with investigators did not shield his public statements from being used against him. She also permitted prosecutors to use statements Davis made to police during earlier proffer sessions, though she noted some concerns about the legal basis for doing so. The defense had separately sought to suppress interviews Davis gave to police in 2008 and 2009 and to have the jury fully sequestered for the length of the trial; both requests were denied, though the judge did allow for partial sequestration.

Given the intense public interest in the case, the court has implemented a daily seating lottery to manage limited courtroom capacity once the jury is empaneled, and proceedings are expected to be livestreamed, offering the public a rare, largely unfiltered look at testimony and evidence in a case that has captivated hip-hop fans for a generation.

Shakur’s family members have continued to press for accountability in the decades since his death. His stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, has spoken publicly about the significance of finally seeing the case reach trial after nearly 30 years of unanswered questions.

Once jury selection concludes, both sides are expected to deliver opening statements before witness testimony begins, with the case likely to draw sustained national attention given its cultural significance and the decades-long wait for any resolution in one of the most closely watched unsolved killings in American popular culture.