During the pandemic, attention flowed toward Austin, Phoenix, Tampa, Dallas, and other high-growth Sun Belt markets.
Those markets experienced explosive demand, rapid price appreciation, investor activity, and migration-driven growth.
One of the lessons we’ve learned from the first half of 2026 is that many of those same markets are working through a normalization process. Inventory is higher. Homes take longer to sell. Price cuts are more common.
Meanwhile, some of the strongest housing performances are showing up in places that largely stayed out of the spotlight.
Rochester. Hartford. Cleveland. Columbus.
For example, Rochester is up 51% since June 2022. Austin? Down 25% since June 2022.
Markets that never experienced the same degree of pandemic excess often require less adjustment when conditions change.
For builders, the lesson isn’t that the Sun Belt is weak or that the Midwest is suddenly superior.
It’s that housing markets tend to move in cycles. Markets that experienced the largest surge in demand often face the largest adjustment. Markets that avoided the extremes may prove more resilient when conditions normalize.
The HousingWire report is a reminder that today’s winners are not always yesterday’s winners.
And in housing, the markets attracting the least attention can sometimes offer the most stability.
