Housing

Punta Gorda is 24% below peak. Cape Coral 19%. North Port 17%. Florida Gulf owns this list — with ski towns and Smoky Mountain markets right behind. Ranked with Zillow prices, dollar losses, and days to pending.

The viral take says lake houses and beach cottages are headed for rock bottom. Zillow data says: Florida Gulf and some ski towns are well below peak — but many Great Lakes and Northeast coast markets never cracked. Here's the scoreboard.

The viral take says every lake house and beach cottage is headed for rock bottom. Traverse City, Holland, Barnstable, Ocean City, and Steamboat are still sitting on their highs. Here's the other half of the map.

National home values are near highs, but 15 states and dozens of big metros are still below their post-2021 peak. Here's how to read the data — and whether 'underwater' applies to you.

Austin's typical home value peaked near $582,000 in June 2022. By June 2026 it was about $427,000 — still 27% below the high. Here's what that means for peak buyers, new buyers, and renters.

In Kansas City, Hartford, and Grand Rapids, the typical home goes pending in about 6 days. Nationally it takes 19. Here are the 25 largest metros where homes sell fastest in spring 2026 — and where buyers still get weeks to decide.

Florida's typical home value is still about 7% below its 2024 peak. Cape Coral is down 19%, North Port 17%, Tampa 8%. Here's the June 2026 Zillow update for Florida buyers and sellers.

City-level ZHVI — not metros. Austin −27%, Oakland −25%, Cape Coral −22%. Among ~21,000 U.S. cities, these are the 25 largest still furthest below their post-2021 peak as of June 2026.

Austin is still 27% below its 2022 peak. Cape Coral is down 19%. Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, and San Francisco remain underwater for peak-era buyers. Here are the 25 largest metros furthest below their highest reading since 2021.

D.C. is still 13% below its 2022 peak. Arizona is down 9%. We compared every state's highest Zillow home value since 2021 with June 2026 — and mapped where peak-era buyers are still underwater on paper.

Boise sales are up 26% year over year. Austin +17%. Cape Coral and North Port are among the hottest large markets for deals closing — even while prices sit below peak. Here are the 25 largest metros with the strongest April–June 2026 sales vs 2025.

Phoenix's typical home value peaked near $502,000 in July 2022. By June 2026 it was about $447,000 — still 11% lower. Arizona statewide remains about 9% below peak.

Home values are up 54% from January 2019 through June 2026. The original metro analysis shows how limited the early-2026 correction was.

Austin is down 27% from its 2022 peak as of June 2026. Cape Coral down 19%. Phoenix down 11%. Updated rankings live on our new peak-gap posts.

Not every city got hammered. These 20 cities have affordable rent, declining or flat year-over-year prices, and reasonable growth since 2019. If you're looking for a place where your rent isn't eating your paycheck, start here.

Rock Springs fell 7.2%. Cape Coral fell 4.6%. These 20 cities are the only places in America where rent is actually going down — and Florida dominates the list.

Abilene jumped 30%. Monroe jumped 26%. These 20 cities saw the biggest year-over-year rent increases from January 2025 to January 2026 — and almost all of them are small towns that were supposed to stay cheap.

Buy a house ASAP or rent and invest the difference? We used real home price and rent data across all 50 states to settle the debate — and the answer depends entirely on your zip code.

Even the cities with the biggest rent crashes are still charging dramatically more than before the pandemic. Austin is down 12.6% from peak — and still up 15% from 2019. There is no major U.S. city where rent in 2026 is cheaper than it was in 2019.

The usual advice is "buy, don't rent." But with mortgage rates and prices where they are—and the math on cars, tools, and vacation—renting often wins. Here's when and why.

Rent growth is slowing in some markets while mortgage payments remain near record highs. We break down where housing costs are actually cooling — and where they're not.

America is short 3-5 million homes. Until we build more, housing costs will keep climbing. We dig into why construction can't keep up.