Philadelphia Metro named 6th hottest real estate market

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia's housing market is red hot right now.

So if you're looking to buy a home in our region, you need to start lining up your finances now.

Experts said there are a number of things that impact the housing market, and a big one is employment.

A company called Zonda just announced the top 10 job markets, setting the stage for strong housing demand in 2026, and Philadelphia is on that list.

On top of that, Zillow predicts the Philadelphia region will be the sixth hottest real estate market in the country this year, which means it will remain strong for sellers.

Two neighborhoods are expected to be especially hot.

"We're expecting both Newtown and Drexel Hill to be hot, and we're expecting them to be hot for a couple of reasons," said Chief Economist Misha Fisher with Zillow. "We look at what we're seeing in terms of home value appreciation, both last year and what we forecast for this year, how fast homes are selling, the average share with price cuts, or if they're going above their list price."

Zillow also looks at overall job growth across the metro.

And when you consider all of these factors, in the case of both Newtown, Bucks County and Drexel Hill, Delaware County, it expects more appreciation, faster time to sale, and a smaller share of homes that have price cuts.

"This is great news for sellers, but buyers better be ready for some competition," said Fisher. "If you think this summer is maybe the summer, you should be preparing right now."

Fisher said potential buyers should start lining up their finances now and begin building a relationship with a real estate agent.

Also, try a tool like Zillow's BuyAbility, which calculates a house budget for you, using current mortgage rates, then shows available homes you can afford with weekly updates.

"That way, when something does come online that's your dream home, you're ready to act because homes are only staying on the market for about 12 and a half days. So you have to be able to move quickly when you see the one that you really want," Fisher said.

Zillow expects home values in our market to grow by another 1.7% over the course of this year.

That's after home prices went up 4% last year.

According to Bright MLS, the median price in 2025 was $390,000.