TAMPA, Fla. — An analysis from Zillow found the Tampa region is no longer in the Top 25 hottest housing markets for 2025.
Tampa ranked 29th in the nation for the hottest housing markets in 2025, dropping 19 spots from the same period in 2024.
According to Zillow's analysis, Tampa's year-over-year growth in the home value index was down 2.5%. In a boost for home buyers, Zillow found a 7.3% increase in inventory in Tampa compared to pre-pandemic averages.
Matthew Waxman lives in Tampa and has been buying and selling homes on the side for the last four years.
“It was booming, like nonstop booming from the start of the pandemic all the way through," said Waxman. "I think a lot of people were happy to relocate to Florida.”
Tampa's drop in the hottest housing markets was one of the largest in the nation, following Memphis and Las Vegas. San Francisco tied Tampa's drop in the list.
Tampa, Jacksonville, and Orlando all dropped in the rankings. The only market in Florida that moved up in the rankings over the last year was Miami. Buffalo, New York sits in the number one spot.
“Obviously after recent hurricanes hit us back to back, especially in the Tampa Bay Area, I think a lot of people are starting to reconsider moving here as much," said Chandler Thompson, a local realtor. "Insurance is getting higher, taxes are getting higher, and the market’s definitely cooling down a little bit, and houses are starting to sit a little bit longer.”
Thompson explained buyers have a lot of negotiating power right now, whereas two or three years ago, they didn't.
“People were bidding 50 offers on every single house and $100,000 over asking price. That’s definitely not the case anymore," said Thompson. "The only issue is they have more negotiating power. They don’t have as much purchasing power because the interest rates are so high.”
Waxman weighed in too.
“Tampa's also seen something extremely unique in that it had a little recent devastation from the hurricanes, so whether buyers have lost a little bit of appetite or just that there’s a sudden flood on the market with inventory, it just doesn’t seem that that drop is really something that’s going on because property values are still holding, people are still buying. It’s just a matter of, I think buyers have started to wait a little bit for mortgage rates to cool down, and once those mortgage rates start to cool, I think you’re going to start to see the buying pick right back up again," said Waxman.
No matter who you ask, most people will tell you Tampa's the best place to be.
“It’s a growing city. It’s a vibrant city full of great neighborhoods and fantastic people," said Waxman. "Why wouldn’t people want to live in Tampa?”
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