BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo may be known for its colder temperatures, but it also has one of the hottest housing markets in the country.
For the second year in a row, real estate website Zillow named Buffalo as the nation's hottest housing market for 2025. Indianapolis, Providence, Hartford, and Philadelphia round out the top five.
According to Zillow the list of the hottest markets is based on an analysis of several factors including home value growth and projected changes in the labor market. New jobs often mean new residents.
Zillow said that Buffalo has the most new jobs per new home permitted "which raises competition and drives up prices unless builders can match the additional demand."
I spoke with two local real estate experts who told me they are not surprised that Buffalo continues to be in the top spot for housing markets.
"I'm not surprised honestly," said Kelly Spurlock, Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtorspresident, and branch director with Hunt Real Estate. "Buffalo has been a great market. There's a lot of demand. We have very affordable housing in our area especially compared to other places in the country. And you know it seems to be a place that people want to live so it's not surprising to me that we're seeing that again this year."
Carmelo Parlato, a Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker with Gurney Becker & Bourne in the city agrees.
"It falls in line with the way I see it. It's not surprising to me," said Parlato. "We're not maybe the sexiest idea in the whole nation, but when you get down to brass tacks and livability and quality of life it makes a lot of sense to me."
Spurlock added that it's not only the City of Buffalo that remains a hot housing market, it's the entire Buffalo-Niagara region. Numbers from BNAR for November of 2024 saw the average sale price of homes in the Buffalo-Niagara region push close to $300,000.
"I hear a lot of people say, oh well, we will wait to buy till you know the market changes or until it becomes more affordable," said Spurlock. "I feel like I've been saying this for years, it's just going to keep going up. No better time than right now to get into the market if you are looking to buy."
