Local Leaders: 10 Hottest U.S. New Home Markets

The 20th annual Local Leaders list by BUILDER Magazine is now live!

BUILDER’s 50 hottest home building markets in 2025 went live today. Since 2005, Zonda’s BUILDER has revealed the largest U.S. new-home markets through its Local Leaders list, which includes the top 10 builders within each. This year the list is dominated by Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida in the top eight spots.

The Sunbelt continues to have a strong presence on Local Leaders over last year, as more home buyers are choosing new homes and also finding deals.

2025 Top 10 Hottest New-Home Markets

1. Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, TX
2. Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, TX
3. Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ
4. San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX
5. Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos, TX
6. Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA
7. Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, FL
8. Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, FL
9. Las Vegas–Henderson–North Las Vegas, NV
10. Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC-SC

Millennials have now reached a level of nearly 50% homeowners and 50% renters nationally. Looking to the next five years, Ali Wolf, chief economist for Zonda and NewHomeSource, is keeping a close eye on the “cusp” of Millennials and Gen Z (born 1996-2001), whose coming-of-age years were shaped by a pandemic, surging inflation, and labor market volatility.

“Overall, nearly two-thirds of our top markets had a higher share of cuspers than the national average, pointing to important pockets of future housing demand,” said Ali Wolf. “This cohort has the highest likelihood of influencing short- to medium-term housing trends.” (Like making suburbs cool.)

“BUILDER’s Local Leaders list continues to be the bellwether of U.S. housing, with the only data available worldwide of visually verified U.S. housing starts, to the subdivision level,” said Steve Ladurantaye, Senior Vice President, Content, and Editor in Chief, BUILDER and NewHomeSource. “Home buyers benefit from this deep expertise on NewHomeSource, where they can customize their searches within markets based on their lifestyle needs.”

Check out the full top 50 markets on BUILDER and explore NewHomeSource, where home buyers can search new homes, including quick move ins, hot deals, and communities.

About BUILDER

BUILDER is the No. 1 resource—via its award-winning journalism and industry events—for anyone involved in new-home construction. Primarily focused on the single-family sector, BUILDER strives to help home builders manage their operations, large and small, more efficiently and profitably. Residential construction pros turn to BUILDER for housing-related news, market analysis, design trends, M&A deals, building product coverage, and more. builderonline.com

About NewHomeSource (NHS)

NewHomeSource.com is America’s #1 source for consumers as they search for new construction communities and homes. NewHomeSource also has the most extensive collection of ratings and reviews for homebuilders nationwide. As the only independent source of reviews from verified homebuyers, TrustBuilder delivers the honest insights you need to make decisions with confidence.

About Zonda

Zonda provides data-driven housing market solutions to the homebuilding industry. From builders to building product manufacturers, mortgage clients, and multifamily executives, we work hand-in-hand with our customers to streamline access to housing data to empower smarter decisions. As a leading brand in residential construction, our mission is to advance the home building industry, because we believe better homes mean better lives and stronger communities. Together, we are building the future of housing. zondahome.com