Hartford, Connecticut, tops Zillow’s hottest housing markets list this year

Move over Buffalo, there’s a new housing market in town.

Hartford, Connecticut, surpassed Northwest New York City as Zillow’s largest housing market this year. Buffalo has ranked No. 1 in Zillow’s annual forecast of top markets for consecutive years.

Hartford is at the top in part because inventory is 63% below pre-pandemic levels, the largest shortfall among the 50 largest U.S. metro cities by population. More than half of the homes in the area, 66%, also sold above list price in Hartford last year, topping all other major metro areas. The area also had the second-lowest share of homes with a price reduction, at just 16.5%.

To make matters worse, “inventory injections are unlikely to come from existing owners or builders; buyers should be prepared for bidding wars and broken hearts,” according to Zillow.

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Zillow’s 2025 forecast list, which calls the nation’s leading estimate forecasts, ranked Hartford among the top five metro areas. This has proven to be accurate, as home values ​​grew faster in Hartford than in any other major metro last year, up 4.6%, according to the report.

Zillow expects this climb to continue into the new year as the region is expected to lead price growth again in 2026, albeit at a slightly more relaxed pace of 3.9% annually.

Hartford ranks first in part because inventory is 63% below pre-pandemic levels. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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Competition among buyers will be intense, meaning sellers will have the upper hand in this year’s hottest markets like Hartford, said Misha Fisher, chief economist at Zillow.

“Shoppers will need to leverage all the resources they can muster in these fast-moving markets, from their own team of experts to technical assistance to financial assistance, but successful buyers will gain equity quickly,” Fisher said.

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Buffalo, which was ranked as the hottest housing market in both 2024 and 2025, ranks second on the latest list. Sellers maintained a strong negotiating advantage there throughout the past year, giving the metro the highest competition score on Zillow’s Market Heat Index among major cities.

Sixty-six percent of homes sold at above list price in Hartford last year, leading all other major metro areas. (John Woike/Tribune News Service via Getty Images via Getty Images)

The New York metro area, which includes parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is not far behind.

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It ranks third on the list due to a positive home price outlook, strong hiring, and the lowest share of listings, with prices among major metros declining by just 13.5%.