Hartford, Connecticut, has held the top spot on Realtor.com’s list of the hottest U.S. housing markets for two months running. The company’s June 2026 ranking measured buyer demand by unique views per listing and by how long listings stayed active online.
Realtor.com senior economist Hannah Jones tied Hartford’s position to a tightly restricted supply of homes for sale and to conditions friendlier to buyers than in its larger, pricier neighbors.
Erie takes second
The bigger surprise was No. 2: Erie, Pennsylvania, nicknamed “Gem City” for the waters of its Lake Erie harbor. Erie climbed 12 spots over the past year and 17 since May. It is a waterfront community of 91,000 and the center of the lake-effect snow that turns it into a winter wonderland.
In June, Erie homes drew 3.3 times the national average number of views per property. Listings sat a median of 29 days, the same as Hartford and six days faster than a year earlier. The typical U.S. home stayed on the market 53 days.
Price is a large part of the draw. Erie’s median listing price was $239,000 in June, roughly $200,000 below the national median and about half Hartford’s. Among the 20 hottest markets, only Binghamton, New York, was cheaper, at $227,000. “Affordability makes Erie so attractive to buyers,” said Fred Amendola, an agent with Keller Williams Flagship Realty. “Some folks from the area may not think so, but those coming back from other areas or moving here see the difference.”
Too few homes
Inventory in Erie fell just over 1% from a year ago and is 74% below its 2019 level. “The hotness in Erie is largely fueled by significant inventory scarcity,” Jones said. Median listing prices fell 2.5% year over year in June, while pending home sales rose for a seventh straight month.
Northeastern and Midwestern markets took all 20 spots on the June list, 16 for the Northeast and four for the Midwest.
Buyers face a harder backdrop. First-time purchasers made up 21% of the market last year, according to WalletHub, against a historical average of 40%. The average rate on a long-term mortgage moved closer to 6.5% last week. The 30-year rate briefly dropped below 6% in February, then climbed in May to its highest in nine months.
Sources
- This winter wonderland was one of the hottest housing markets for June: See the list
- Hartford leads America’s hottest housing markets as buyers pay over asking
