The Sun Belt dominates Zillow’s list of the hottest housing markets in 2022. For the second year in a row, Tampa, Jacksonville, Raleigh, San Antonio and Charlotte top Zillow’s newly released rankings.
“Home buyers are attracted to markets in the Sun Belt that offer relative affordability, fast-growing economies and weather that allows them to enjoy the outdoors year-round,” says Zillow economist Alexandra Lee. “Across the board, sellers will remain in the driver’s seat, but especially so in the hottest markets. Buyers should be ready for strong competition for homes, which means bidding wars and homes flying off the market only days after they are listed.”
Tampa tops the list due to a combination of strong forecasted home value growth, a thriving job market and relatively scarce and fast-moving inventory.
The remainder of the top 10 include:
- Jacksonville
- Raleigh
- San Antonio
- Charlotte
- Nashville
- Atlanta
- Phoenix
- Orlando
- Austin
Zillow notes that six of the 10 markets have added more jobs than new homes over the past two years, adding competition for available homes.
Additionally, the report calls out New York, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Chicago and San Jose as the top markets expected to cool in the new year, though Zillow notes that sellers should still have the upper hand even in cooler markets. Home values are forecasted to grow by at least 10 percent over the next 12 months in all metros except San Francisco at 9.9 percent.