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The 42 tightest housing markets heading into the peak spring season
Among the nation’s 200 largest metro area housing markets, 42 markets at the end of March 2025 still had at least -50% less-active inventory than in March 2019.
Lance Lambert
April 10, 2025
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The 42 tightest housing markets heading into peak spring 2025
National active housing inventory for sale at the end of March 2025 was up +28.5% compared to March 2024. Nationally, we’re now just -20.0% below pre-pandemic levels in March 2019.
However, while the national housing market has softened and inventory has surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic levels in many pockets of the Sun Belt, many housing markets remain far tighter than the national average.
Pulling from ResiClub’s monthly inventory tracker, for today’s piece we identified the tightest major housing markets heading into the peak spring 2025 season, where active inventory is still the furthest below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. These markets are where home sellers have maintained more power compared to most sellers nationwide.
Among the nation’s 200 largest metro area housing markets, 42 markets (see table below) at the end of March 2025 still had at least -50.0% less active inventory than in March 2019.
Many of those tight markets are in the Northeast, in particular, in states like New Jersey and Connecticut.
Unlike the Sun Belt, many markets in the Northeast and Midwest were less reliant on pandemic-era migration and have fewer new home construction projects in progress. With lower exposure to the negative demand shock caused by the slowdown in pandemic-era migration—and fewer homebuilders in these regions offering affordability adjustments once rates spiked—active inventory in many Northeast housing markets has remained relatively tight, maintaining a seller’s advantage heading into spring 2025.
Zillow fires back—banning private listings
On Thursday, Zillow announced a new policy that bans home listings from appearing on Zillow if they were first listed for sale in private networks more than 24 hours before first appearing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
“If a listing is online, it should be online everywhere… If a listing is marketed to any home shoppers, it should be marketed to all home shoppers,” wrote Zillow on Thursday.
While Zillow’s concern for home shoppers may very well be sincere, it’s pretty obvious that Zillow’s pocketbook is talking, too.
Some brokerages, most infamously Compass, are pushing for more "private exclusives"—a strategy that allows sellers to market their properties privately within the brokerages’ network before or instead of listing them on public platforms like the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). There’s also Amanda Orson’s startup Galleon, a private listings site where homeowners can “name their number.”
My guess?
Zillow likely fears that the private listing market could soon gain increased momentum, so it is using its massive influence—and the fact that it’s the go-to source for so many high-intent buyers—to try and throw cold water on private listings before they absorb too large of a market share.
What is Orson’s take?
“It’s a classic incumbent defense move: raise the switching costs before consumers even realize they have alternatives. Zillow is using its current dominance—especially on the buy side—to discourage sellers from testing private networks, hoping to lock in supply before momentum shifts. But this kind of maneuver is also a strategic signal. It says, ‘We still control what gets seen.’ That’s not a flex—it’s a tell. When incumbents start playing defense this early, it often accelerates the shift they’re trying to prevent. Sellers start to ask questions. Trust erodes. And once defection begins—especially if sellers realize they can get better economics and more control elsewhere—it becomes a version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma. One seller leaving has limited impact. But many sellers making the same calculation at once? That’s how the bundle unravels. Which is why I said, we've seen this movie before—in cable, in music, in travel. The more aggressive the platform gets in trying to preserve the old model, the more inevitable the new one becomes.”
Note… There’s also at least one loophole to Zillow’s ban: if the home seller fires their agent.
"A seller who parts ways with their agent after using a private listing service, and subsequently re-lists with a new agent or broker would be eligible again to have their property on Zillow” a Zillow spokesperson told RISMedia today.
On Monday, April 14th, we will hold a special webinar for ResiClub PRO members at 3 p.m. ET showing members how to build a local housing newsletter.
This particular webinar is perfect for housing stakeholders (builders, investors, real estate agents, etc.) who’d like to create a locally focused housing market newsletter. We’ll show you…
How to get a website domain for your newsletter
Where to host your newsletter (free up to 2,500 subscribers)
How to build your email list
How to insert ResiClub charts and maps into your newsletter
Tips on story formatting, story structure, and reading housing data
What ResiClub PRO charts and maps would be great for your localized newsletter
