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Zillow economists use an economic model known as the Zillow Market Heat Index to gauge the competitiveness of housing markets across the country.
This model looks at key indicatorsincluding home price changes, inventory levels, and days on marketto generate a score showing whether a market favors sellers or buyers.
Higher scores point to hotter, seller-friendly metro housing markets. Lower scores signal cooler markets where buyers hold more negotiating power.
According to Zillow:
Score of 70 or above = strong sellers market
Score from 55 to 69 = sellers market
Score from 45 to 54 = neutral market
Score from 28 to 44 = buyers market
Score of 27 or below = strong buyers market
Nationally, Zillow rates the U.S. housing market at 48 in its October 2025 reading, published last week.
That said, Zillows reading varies significantly across the country.
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Among the 250 largest metro-area housing markets, these 20 are the HOTTEST marketswhere sellers have the most power:
Rochester, NY 120
Syracuse, NY 80
Hartford, CT 76
Bridgeport, CT 70
Racine, WI 67
San Francisco, CA 66
New York, NY 65
Albany, NY 65
Lancaster, PA 65
Manchester, NH 64
San Jose, CA 63
Poughkeepsie, NY 63
Anchorage, AK 63
Springfield, MA 62
Norwich, CT 62
Providence, RI 60
Kingston, NY 60
Richmond, VA 59
Buffalo, NY 59
New Haven, CT 59
Among the 250 largest metro-area housing markets, these 20 are the COLDEST marketswhere buyers have the most power:
Florence, SC 8
Jackson, TN 10
Gulfport, MS 14
Lafayette, IN 18
Longview, TX 19
Charleston, WV 20
Macon, GA 20
Terre Haute, IN 22
Brownsville, TX 25
Evansville, IN 25
Asheville, NC 26
Fayetteville, AR 27
Daphne, AL 28
Beaumont, TX 29
Hickory, NC 29
Lubbock, TX 30
Naples, FL 31
Saginaw, MI 32
Bowling Green, KY 32
Lincoln, NE 33
Does ResiClub agree with Zillows assessment?
Directionally, I believe Zillow has correctly identified some regional housing markets where buyers have gained the most powerparticularly around the Gulfas well as markets where sellers have maintained (relatively speaking) somewhat of a grip, including portions of the Northeast and Midwest.
Based on my personal housing analysis, I consider much of Florida (particularly southwest Florida) and chunks of Texas (particularly areas with a lot of new single-family home construction) the weakest/softest chunk of the U.S. housing market. Not too far behind are pockets of Colorado, Georgia, and Arizona markets where theres built-up unsold spec inventory.
What did this Zillow analysis look like back in spring 2021 during the pandemic housing boom? Below is Zillows October 2021 reading, published in November 2021:
