Analysis shows Florida with second-worst housing market in U.S.

A new real estate analysis pegs Florida among the worst housing markets in the U.S., and several Sunshine State cities are struggling too.

The Construction Coverage real estate publication released its 2026 edition of the hottest real estate markets in the country, and its findings were chilly for Florida.

The analysis ranks markets using indicators such as days houses are on the market, price growth and bidding activity to compile a composite score. Florida earned a score of 7.8, the second-worst score in the country behind only Texas, at 7.3.

That’s compared to Connecticut at the top of the list, with a score of 93.9, followed by New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The Southern U.S. fared poorly in the analysis, with the region making up eight of the bottom 15 states. Virginia is the only Southern state in the top 15, at No. 12.

Construction Coverage analysts concluded there are many forces working against the housing market in Southern states.

“The rapid home price increases in these regions combined with rising mortgage rates and return-to-office mandates have made these once-popular migration destinations less attractive to buyers,” the report said.

Home sales are down overall in the U.S. by 8.3% compared to a year ago, and price growth has slowed to just 1.1% in some markets.

Individual Florida cities also produced grim results. Jacksonville, with a score of 16, is the worst housing market among large U.S. cities. Tampa came in third with a score of 17.4. Miami has the seventh-worst market.

No large Florida cities made the list of the top 15 hottest markets. That section was topped by San Francisco, followed by San Jose, California, and Minneapolis.

Mid-sized real estate market indicators were also brutal for Florida. Cape Coral came in last in the U.S., preceded by St. Petersburg. Another three mid-sized Florida cities landed in the bottom 15, including Hollywood, Port St. Lucie and Pembroke Pines.