Who doesn’t love a top 10 list? Well, here are two top 10 lists for the housing market this year. But before you take a look, there’s something you should know.
If a move is on your radar for 2026, here’s the most important thing you need to understand upfront: there isn’t one housing market this year – there are many.
Experts agree 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most geographically split housing markets in years. Some areas are tilting in favor of sellers, while others are opening real doors for buyers. Who has the advantage depends almost entirely on where you are. Selma Hepp, Chief Economist at Cotality, puts it this way:

“Looking ahead to 2026, regional differences will remain pronounced, with demand favoring areas that offer both economic opportunity and relative affordability.”

To show just how divided the landscape is, here’s a look at where sellers are expected to have the upper hand, and where first-time bu. ...

 
When you see a house that’s been sitting on the market for a while, the reaction is almost automatic. You start thinking:


What’s wrong with it?


Why hasn’t anyone bought it yet?


Am I missing something?


That mindset made sense a few years ago. But in today’s market, you may actually miss out.
More Time on Market Isn't Automatically a Concern Anymore
A few years ago, homes sold in just a matter of days. Sometimes, hours. Anything that lingered longer than that raised concerns. But that’s no longer the baseline.
Inventory has grown. Buyers have more choices. And homes are taking longer to sell across the board. Those are some of the reasons why the typical time it takes a home to sell has climbed this year:
And it’s not that 73 days is slow. That’s actually pretty normal for this time of year. It just feels slow because you heard so much about houses being snapped up in the buying frenzy a few years ago.
That shif; ...

 
If you’re one of the thousands of homebuyers waiting for rates to fall, you should know it’s already happening. And they recently crossed an important milestone. Rates officially dipped their toes into the 5s – something that hasn’t happened in about 3 years.
This moment marked a critical threshold. Now, rates are sitting in the low 6% territory. And expert forecasts project they’ll hover near this range throughout the year.
Here's why that’s so good for you.
Why Current Rates Are Such a Big Deal
A mortgage rate doesn’t just affect the interest you end up paying on your home loan. It shapes your entire buying experience.
When rates were up around 7% just one year ago, a lot of buyers felt priced out. Payments were higher. Budgets felt tighter. Affordability was a bigger challenge. That’s especially true for first-time homebuyers, who felt the biggest pinch.
But according to industry experts, that’s starting to chang. ...

 
If you’ve seen headlines saying foreclosure activity has been climbing for 10 straight months, it’s easy to assume that's a sign of trouble for the housing market. But when you look at the full picture, a few simple truths become clear:

Today’s foreclosure numbers are in line with what’s considered normal
High home equity is keeping most homeowners in a strong financial position
None of the data points to a big wave of distressed sales that’ll crash the market

Foreclosure Filings Are Up 32%, But That Doesn’t Mean the Market’s in Trouble
If you peel the layers all the way back, what everyone is actually worried about is that we’re headed for a repeat of what happened in 2008. Back then, riskier lending practices and an oversupply of homes for sale brought home prices down and led to a significant increase in foreclosures. A lot of people felt the impact. But this isn’t the same situation.
Yes, ATTOM data shows for; ...

 
Planning to sell this spring? While you may be tempted to hold off until the first blooms or the spring showers hit, that's actually waiting too long to get started by today’s standards.
Buyers have more options than they did a few years ago. So, it's worth it to tackle repairs now and make sure your house is set up to stand out. Because you don’t want to be caught scrambling right before the spring rush. Or, running out of time to do the work your house really needs. 
The key is focusing on updates that actually matter. And that’s exactly where return-on-investment (ROI) data comes in handy.
Which Projects Tend to Pay Off?
Every year, Zonda looks at which home improvements deliver the most bang for the buck when you go to sell the home. And the results can be a little surprising.
The green in the chart below shows the updates where sellers have the biggest potential to add value based on that research:
While there's a wide range of projects repre? ...