Updated July 22, 2026. “Hottest market” can mean more sales or faster sales. This post is about speed: Zillow’s median days to pending — how long the typical listing takes to go under contract.
Quick terminology: Homes that sell in ~6–10 days are a competitive market for buyers (you have to move fast). That is not a classic buyer’s market. Buyer-friendly markets are the slow ones — weeks or months on market. For rising transaction counts, see our separate post: hottest markets by sales volume.
Window: average of April, May, and June 2026 monthly readings. Universe: 100 largest metros. Ranked by fewest days to pending.
Nationally, the typical home took about 19 days to go pending in that spring window (June alone: 18 days, unchanged vs June 2025).
Top 25 large metros: fastest-selling homes
| # | Metro | Days to pending (Apr–Jun avg) | June 2026 | vs June 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City, MO | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | Hartford, CT | 6.3 | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | Grand Rapids, MI | 6.3 | 6 | −1 |
| 4 | Syracuse, NY | 6.3 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | St. Louis, MO | 6.7 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Cincinnati, OH | 6.7 | 6 | +1 |
| 7 | Columbus, OH | 6.7 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | Richmond, VA | 6.7 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | Cleveland, OH | 7.3 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Albany, NY | 7.3 | 7 | 0 |
| 11 | Dayton, OH | 7.3 | 7 | +1 |
| 12 | Harrisburg, PA | 7.3 | 7 | +1 |
| 13 | Akron, OH | 7.7 | 7 | +1 |
| 14 | Toledo, OH | 7.7 | 7 | +1 |
| 15 | Rochester, NY | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| 16 | Boston, MA | 8.3 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 | New Haven, CT | 8.3 | 8 | +1 |
| 18 | Chicago, IL | 8.7 | 9 | +1 |
| 19 | Worcester, MA | 8.7 | 8 | 0 |
| 20 | Allentown, PA | 8.7 | 8 | −1 |
| 21 | Washington, DC | 9.0 | 10 | 0 |
| 22 | Baltimore, MD | 9.3 | 9 | +1 |
| 23 | Omaha, NE | 9.3 | 9 | +1 |
| 24 | Springfield, MA | 9.3 | 9 | +1 |
| 25 | Buffalo, NY | 9.7 | 9 | 0 |
What the map looks like
Midwest and Northeast speed belt
Spring 2026’s fastest large metros are heavily Midwest and Northeast — Kansas City, the Ohio corridor, Upstate New York, New England. Homes there often go pending in under a week and a half. That means pre-approvals, weekend showings, and tight offer windows.
Big metros that still move fast
Boston and Chicago make the list too: big coastal/Midwest metros can still move inventory in single-digit days even when national headlines say “frozen.”
Slow large metros (more time for buyers)
Among the top 100, spring 2026 was slowest in places like:
- McAllen, TX — ~81 days
- Cape Coral, FL — ~66 days
- Miami, FL — ~53 days
- North Port, FL — ~50 days
- Austin, TX — ~45 days
Why slow can still mean “hot” on volume
Those Florida / Texas names overlap with our prices-still-below-peak and rising sales count lists. More closings can still mean slow closings when inventory is heavy — a real buyer’s market on speed, even as volume thaws.
Highlights
1. Kansas City — 6.0 days
The fastest large metro in the spring average. June also printed 6 days. If you are buying here, assume competition on well-priced listings.
2. Ohio is a speed cluster
Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Akron, Toledo all clear pending in roughly a week. Sales volume is up in several of these too — see Columbus and Toledo on the sales ranking.
Ohio metros on both speed and volume lists
Columbus and Toledo show up in rising sales and short days-to-pending — competitive on both metrics.
3. National speed is flat
U.S. median days to pending in June 2026 matched June 2025 at 18 days. The story is local split, not a national collapse or boom in speed.
How to use this if you are buying or selling
Rule of thumb by days to pending
- Under ~10 days: Price correctly on day one; buyers should have financing ready.
- ~20–40 days: Closer to national norms — room to negotiate without assuming a fire sale.
- 40+ days: More classic buyer leverage on timing, especially where prices are also below peak.
If you are buying
In sub-10-day metros, treat well-priced listings like limited inventory: pre-approval first, tour fast, decide with a hard ceiling.
Weekend competition
Many of these Midwestern markets clear over a single weekend open-house cycle.
If you are selling
Fast markets reward accurate day-one pricing more than “test the market” list prices.
Data tip
Pair speed with price level: Home Prices by Metro, Rent vs Buy, and city peak gaps on Home Prices by City.
Method
Source: Zillow Research metro median days to pending, smoothed, all homes (SFR + condo). Spring figure = average of the April, May, and June 2026 monthly values. YoY column compares June 2026 with June 2025. Ranking universe = SizeRank ≤ 100 with complete spring data. Lower days = faster-selling market. Data through June 2026; updated July 22, 2026.
Related: hottest by sales volume, still below peak?, Austin prices.