Zillow says the Philly region will be one of the 10 hottest housing markets of 2026
Zillow forecasts that the Philadelphia metropolitan area will continue to be a competitive housing market, with homes selling quickly and sellers having the upper hand.
Zillow predicts that the Philadelphia region will be one of the 10 hottest housing markets of 2026.
This year is a big one for Philadelphia, which will host celebrations for the country’s 250th birthday, FIFA World Cup matches, and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have called the city the top travel destination in the world for 2026.
But Zillow’s ranking of the country’s 50 most-populous metros is based on housing market fundamentals that have nothing to do with one-off events. The company examined markets’ home value growth and competitiveness.
The Philadelphia metropolitan area ranked sixth-hottest for 2026.
“Competition among buyers will be stiff, and sellers will have the upper hand in this year’s hottest markets,” Mischa Fisher, Zillow’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Shoppers will need to tap all the resources they can muster in these fast-moving markets, from their team of experts to tech aids to financial assistance, but successful buyers will quickly gain equity.”
In the Philadelphia area, the number of homes for sale last year was about 40% lower than the average pre-pandemic. And demand is outpacing supply. That has made local housing markets more competitive.
Two in five homes sold for more than the asking price from September 2024 to September 2025. And homes typically spent just 13 days on the market in the year ending in October 2025.
During that same period, 22% of listings had a price cut on Zillow. Among the 50 most-populous metros, this share ranged from 13.5% to 33%.
And Zillow estimates that Philadelphia-area home values grew by 3%. It forecasts that values will grow by another 1.7% over the next year.
This is Zillow’s second recent recognition of the strength of local housing markets. Last month, the company revealed that Philadelphia was the only large city that made its list of the 20 most popular housing markets of 2025. That analysis included many more markets — not just the largest ones — and the list was dominated by midsize cities in the Midwest.
On Zillow’s list of the predicted hottest major metros of 2026, Hartford, Conn., knocked Buffalo, N.Y., from the No. 1 spot. Zillow had ranked Buffalo as the hottest metro two years in a row.
In Hartford, more than two-thirds of homes sold above the listing price on average between September 2024 and September 2025. That’s the largest share among major metros. The typical home for sale spent about a week on the market. And Zillow expects home values to grow by about 4% from October 2025 to October 2026.
The New York metro area, which includes parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, ranked third-hottest for 2026. Among major metros, it had the lowest share of listings with a price cut: 13.5%.