While 2026 has been thrown some curveballs almost no one could predict, the market this year has remained resilient as most housing indicators point to slight improvements. However, many markets are outpacing broader trends, largely due to limited inventory and high competition.
As we pass through the halfway point for the year, how have the hottest markets shaped up so far?
Realtor.com®’s Hottest Housing Markets report for June 2026 saw Hartford, Connecticut, once again reign in the top spot (as it did in May), and has consistently remained in the top 20 throughout the year, and within the top five for four of the six months tracked so far.
The portal’s market hotness ratings are based on market demand and the pace of the market, measured through unique views per property and the number of days a listing is active on Realtor.com. The hotter a market, the more demand and competition there is for homes in that area.
In its latest report, Realtor.com also noted that Hartford—along with Rochester, New York, and Worcester, Massachusetts—has remained in the top 20 for almost the entirety of the last four and a half years (minus three months).
Manchester, New Hampshire (spot six in June), and Springfield, Massachusetts (spot 13 in June), have also remained in the top 20 for every month over the last four and a half years.
Realtor.com noted that the dominance of these markets reflects a “distinctly regional pattern—every one is a small or mid-size Northeast metro sitting in the shadow of a far pricier neighbor.” Springfield, Manchester and Worcester are all relative to Boston, as is Hartford.
Overall, the Northeast appears to remain the hottest region among the four, with 16 of the top 20 spots all hailing from the region. The Midwest claims the other four spots: Kenosha, Wisconsin, in spot four; Rockford, Illinois, in spot 10; Racine, Wisconsin, in spot 11; and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in spot 15.
The shifts
2026 has been no exception to the ebbs and flows of the housing market, especially with how the economy has been shaping up due to the headwinds of elevated inflation and so on from the Iranian conflict.
Upward shifts across the hottest housing markets in June were in line with the common trends of 2026 so far: hotness in the Northeast, and a return to larger metros.
In the top 20 hottest markets, three Northeastern markets saw some significant upward movement year-over-year, due to the overall popularity of the region as previously mentioned. Waterbury, Connecticut, jumped up 34 places to spot five; Portland, Maine, jumped up 28 places to spot 18; and Syracuse, New York, jumped 27 places to spot 18.
Among the rest of the list, Realtor.com noted that several of the larger metros “continued to show renewed momentum” year-over-year in June.
Jacksonville, Florida, leapt a whopping 55 spots; San Francisco, California, jumped 28 spots; Tampa, Florida, jumped 24 spots; New York, New York, jumped 19 spots; and Sacramento, California, jumped 14 spots.
The data suggests that demand in these markets is more-so normalizing rather than growing, as in the COVID-era many large cities across the country saw what could be described as a mass-exodus.
The big picture
Looking at the overall data for June, Realtor.com’s report paints a picture of a market in transition, a picture that many economists have also described throughout the year so far.
Competition and seller advantage is still strong in the Northeast and Midwest as they dominate the top 20 hottest markets, and the report said that this “dynamic isn’t easing” currently. However, on a national scale, there have been increases in inventory which, in turn, have helped create more improvements in affordability for buyers to increase their activity.
“That combination of falling prices and rising contract signings signals that sellers are meeting buyers where they are,” the report explained.
