Zillow's Hottest and Coldest Housing Markets in 2026
Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing Podcast
Kathy Fettke / RealWealth
4.5 • 546 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2026
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Where do buyers have the most negotiating power in today's housing market, and where are sellers still firmly in control?
In this episode of The Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke breaks down new data from Zillow ranking more than 250 U.S. housing markets by buyer and seller strength. From red-hot Northeast metros to cooling markets in Florida, Texas, and parts of the Sun Belt, investors will learn where inventory is tight, where price cuts are growing, and where new opportunities may be emerging in 2026.
If you're looking for appreciation, cash flow, or stronger negotiating leverage, this market update will help you spot where housing trends are shifting next.
Go to www.Realwealth.com/TopCities for a FREE PDF!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The housing market is no longer moving as one national story. In some cities, buyers are still |
| 0:05.6 | competing for every listing. And in others, sellers are cutting prices, offering concessions and |
| 0:11.6 | waiting for offers. I'm Kathy Fedke, and this is real estate news for investors. |
| 0:19.3 | This is Real Estate News with Kathy Fedke. |
| 0:23.4 | A new housing market analysis from Zillow is giving us one of the clearest snapshots of where sellers still have pricing power and where buyers are starting to take control. |
| 0:34.2 | Zillow just updated what it calls the market heat Index, tracking more than 250 metro areas across the country. |
| 0:41.7 | The index looks at home price trends, inventory levels, and how quickly homes are selling to measure which side has the advantage. |
| 0:50.0 | Nationally, Zillow rates the U.S. housing market at a score of 55 this spring. |
| 0:55.5 | That puts the country in seller's market territory, but just barely. |
| 0:59.9 | Compared to the pandemic housing boom, today's market looks much more balanced. |
| 1:04.7 | But once you zoom into local markets, the story changes fast. |
| 1:08.9 | According to Zillow, the hottest market in America right now is Rochester, |
| 1:13.1 | New York. That's followed by Buffalo, Syracuse, and even major metros like San Francisco and San Jose. |
| 1:21.0 | Many of these markets are in the northeast and Midwest, where inventory remains tight and well-priced homes |
| 1:27.0 | are still moving quickly. In some cases, |
| 1:29.9 | buyers are still competing for a limited number of listings. On the other end of the spectrum, |
| 1:35.5 | buyers are gaining serious leverage in parts of the South and Sunbelt. Among Zillow's coldest housing |
| 1:41.5 | markets are Naples, Miami, Cape Coral, Coral, Corpus Christi, and McAllen. |
| 1:47.0 | These are markets where inventory has been building, homes are sitting on the market longer, and price reductions are becoming more common. |
| 1:54.9 | According to Housing Research Firm Resi Club, that trend is especially visible in southwest Florida and parts of Texas, where heavy new home construction has created more competition for sellers. |
| 2:06.6 | Resi Club also points to pockets of Colorado, Georgia, and Arizona, where builders have been working through unsold spec inventory by offering incentives and price cuts. For real estate investors, this creates |
| 2:19.7 | two very different strategies. In tighter markets across the Northeast and Midwest, limited supply |
... |
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