5 Real Estate Markets Scoring Above 95 That Most Investors Have Never Heard Of

When investors list the markets they are watching, the names tend to cluster: Austin, Nashville, Phoenix, Tampa, Denver. These markets have legitimate long-term stories. They also have something else in common: as of February 2026, none of them are scoring in the top tier of the PropertyIQ index.

The markets scoring above 95 right now are places that rarely come up in those conversations.

Here are five of them, with the data behind each score. All PropertyIQ scores as of February 28, 2026.

1. Rochester, NY -- Score: 99

The highest-scoring major metro in the PropertyIQ index as of February 2026.

• Median listing price: $290,450
• Home values up 8.2% year over year
• 573 homes for sale (down 13% YoY)
• Homes selling at 108.5% of asking price
• Pending-to-active ratio: 1.77 (extreme demand relative to supply)
• Overvalued: only 0.5% above fundamentals
• Zillow forecast: +4.3% near-term

Rochester is scoring 99 because it has nearly every favorable condition simultaneously: tight supply, strong demand, fair valuation, and rising prices that have not outrun what local incomes can support.

2. Buffalo, NY -- Score: 98

• Median listing price: $249,900 -- lowest of the five markets on this list
• Sale-to-list ratio: 103% (homes selling above asking)
• 829 homes for sale (down 7.4% YoY)
• Pending ratio: 1.46
• Overvalued: 8.8%
• Zillow forecast: +3.6% near-term

Buffalo combines a top-tier score with the lowest entry price of any A+ market we have profiled. The valuation is modestly stretched but not extreme.

3. Manchester, NH -- Score: 98

• Median listing price: $550,000
• Days on market: 36 -- one of the fastest markets in the country
• Only 280 homes for sale
• Pending ratio: 1.38
• Demand score: 99.3 out of 100
• Homes sell at 100% of asking
• Zillow forecast: +4.2% near-term

Manchester is the most expensive market on this list. It is also 43% overvalued relative to local fundamentals -- a meaningful risk factor. The score reflects extraordinary demand and supply constraints; the overvaluation caveat is real. Median income is $100,436 (2023 Census), which provides some support.

4. Lancaster, PA -- Score: 97

• Median listing price: $419,850
• Days on market: 37
• Only 402 homes for sale (new listings down 11.4% YoY)
• Pending ratio: 1.14
• Demand score: 94.6 out of 100
• Homes sell at exactly asking (100% sale-to-list)
• Overvalued: 26.9%
• Zillow forecast: +3.9% near-term
• 5-year appreciation: 18.28%

Lancaster sits between Rochester's affordability and Manchester's price level. The 26.9% overvaluation is worth noting -- appreciation has run ahead of fundamentals, though demand remains exceptionally strong.

5. Bremerton, WA -- Score: 97

Bremerton (Kitsap County, across Puget Sound from Seattle) scores a 97 as of February 28, 2026. It benefits from tight supply in the broader Seattle metro area while sitting at a lower price point than Seattle proper. The market draws buyers priced out of the core Seattle metro, and inventory constraints are pronounced.

The Pattern

All five markets share the same underlying condition: demand significantly exceeds supply, and that imbalance has not yet been corrected by builder activity or by prices rising to the point of excluding buyers.

None of them are in Texas or Florida. The markets scoring in the top tier of the PropertyIQ index in early 2026 are concentrated in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Pacific Northwest -- not the Sun Belt metros that dominated real estate conversations for the past decade.

PropertyIQ scores as of February 28, 2026. Listing data as of February 1, 2026. Forecast and rent data as of late 2025. All data for informational purposes only.