Austin Leads 20% Gain in 2026 Us Housing Market Trends
Austin, Texas led major U.S. metros with a 20 percent rise in existing home sales, a sign that 2026 us housing market trends are tilting toward markets where listings have rebuilt. Buyers in those places are finding more homes to choose from, while cities with tighter supply are still seeing weaker demand.
20 percent annual sales growth in Austin came alongside inventory that was 52 percent above pre-pandemic averages, and homes there were typically selling after 17 days. Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist on Zillow’s economic research team, said, “After years of low supply, markets with restocked shelves are seeing relatively stronger sales growth.”
Austin and Texas metros
11.7 percent sales growth in San Antonio, 8.6 percent in Dallas and 3.3 percent in Houston show how the rebound has spread across Texas, where construction during the pandemic housing boom helped restore supply. The pattern is visible in the Southeast too, with Nashville up 8.8 percent, Raleigh up 7.4 percent and Miami up 6.6 percent.
14.4 percent growth in Milwaukee, 12.7 percent in Richmond, Virginia, 12.7 percent in New Orleans and 10.1 percent in Chicago shows the recovery is not limited to one region. Louisville, Kentucky, also posted a 7.8 percent gain, while the national increase was only 2.3 percent.
New York and tighter supply
8.7 percent declines in New York, 8.3 percent in Pittsburgh and 8 percent in Providence point to the other side of the market: places where inventory still has not caught up. Zillow said inventory has fully recovered in 19 of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, and most of those are in Southern and Western states.
“Now those same markets with a wealth of options for buyers are seeing recovering sales, as incomes are more in line with prices,” Divounguy said. For buyers, the practical divide is straightforward: metros with rebuilt supply are moving faster, while tighter Northeastern markets are still losing sales as affordability and low inventory keep pressure on demand.
That split leaves the main question for the next stretch of the housing cycle: whether the supply recovery that lifted Austin and other Southern and Midwestern metros can spread enough to narrow the gap with cities still posting annual declines.
