Zillow’s Latest Search Data Offers a Clear Signal Heading Into 2026

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In 2025, one of the fastest-growing home search terms had nothing to do with price, square footage, or finishes. It was water.

Searches for lake, waterfront, river, and beach surged across the country, including in states where waterfront living has never been a dominant draw. That alone signals a meaningful shift in how buyers were thinking about home, place, and daily life.

Zillow Zeitgeist 2025 puts data behind that shift. Based on millions of natural-language searches across Zillow during the 2025 calendar year, the annual report captures what people asked for in their own words while searching for a home.

The result is a clear picture of changing priorities.

Taken together, the data shows buyers moving away from size and status and toward homes that support how they want to live. Flexible layouts, access to nature, privacy, and small comforts rose in importance, while traditional markers of luxury quietly lost ground.

As the market heads into 2026, these search patterns offer a useful lens into where buyer expectations are already headed.

Lifestyle Replaced Luxury as the Organizing Principle

The defining theme running through Zillow’s 2025 search data is a move away from size and status toward homes that support how people actually live.

Search behavior shifted away from square footage and high-end features and toward adaptability, comfort, and livability.

Buyers weren’t just shopping for more house. They were searching for homes that fit their routines and their families, as well as their long-term plans.

That mindset shows up consistently across national, regional, and state-level data.

Zillow’s home trends expert Amanda Pendleton captured the shift clearly when explaining what stood out most in the data:

“2025 was the year people stopped searching for more home and started searching for more meaning at home. Across the country, buyers want homes that can flex for family, offer access to nature and deliver small daily comforts that make life feel easier and more joyful.”

Outdoor Living, Water, and Experience Took Center Stage

One of the most pronounced changes from 2024 to 2025 was increased interest in features tied to daily enjoyment and experience.

Searches for pool, patio, yard, and view all grew year over year, signaling stronger demand for livability over sheer size.

Water-related searches amplified that trend. Interest rose nationwide for lake, dock, river, waterfront, and beach, even in states that haven’t historically prioritized waterfront living, including Mississippi, Montana, and Oklahoma.

Water access increasingly functions as shorthand for calm, escape, and quality of life rather than recreation alone. Having a beachfront vacation home feels less like a need (or justifiable expense) when your home already feels like a haven.

Taken together, these searches suggest buyers were prioritizing how a home feels to live in, not just how it looks on paper.

Flexible Living Spaces Moved From Niche to Mainstream

Searches for flexible layouts gained significant traction in 2025, reflecting changing household needs and longer-term planning.

Buyers are using search terms like these more often:

ADU
Guest house
Casita
In-law suite

These terms point to multigenerational living, rental income opportunities, and homes designed to evolve over time. More buyers were planning for change and thinking long-term. Flexibility has become a feature in its own right.

Comfort, Privacy, and Control Replaced Status

While flexible spaces and outdoor features gained momentum, traditional luxury signals lost ground. Searches tied to mansion, luxury, and acreage cooled compared with 2024.

At the same time, buyers showed more interest in features associated with warmth, practicality, and personal space, including:

Fireplaces
Gardens
Fenced yards
Gated settings

Searches for privacy-oriented features also went up as buyers prioritized environments that feel secure, calm, and contained. No one wants to be visible to all and sundry while they’re out on the patio enjoying a coffee or taking in some sun.

This shift suggests emotional comfort and a sense of control quietly overtook prestige as key decision drivers.

How 2025 Search Behavior Reshaped Expectations for 2026

Comparing 2024 and 2025 makes the direction of travel clear. Zillow’s data shows consistent movement:

From home type to lifestyle, with ranch, duplex, cabin, and acreage giving way to pool, lake, and waterfront
From utility to experience, as view, patio, gym, and beach outpaced garage and land
From fixed to flexible, with ADU and guest house rising while duplex declined slightly
From rustic to serene, as cabin and farm lost ground to lake and backyard-focused terms

These shifts matter because search behavior often changes before pricing, inventory, or marketing language catches up. Heading into 2026, buyer expectations are already aligned around homes that make daily life easier, calmer, and more adaptable.

What State and Regional Searches Reveal About Local Priorities

Zillow Zeitgeist also highlights how national trends express themselves locally. State-level standouts included:

Aviation-focused searches like hangar and four-plex in Alaska
Adobe architecture in New Mexico
Land contract searches in Michigan
Continued interest in mother-daughter homes in New York and New Jersey.

Arizona saw strong interest in RV gate and casita, while Hawaii searches emphasized fee simple ownership.

Regional patterns reinforced these differences:

The Southwest clustered around ADU, casita, guest house, and solar.
Coastal states leaned heavily into beach, oceanfront, dock, balcony, and gated community.
Heartland states saw growth in barndominium, pole barn, and acreage searches
The Pacific Northwest remained focused on ADU, modern design, view, yard, and waterfront.

Understanding these nuances is vital to your conversations with consumers because search behavior reflects expectations long before they show up in closed sales.

Key Details:

Zillow Zeitgeist 2025 analyzes millions of home searches to reveal a clear shift toward lifestyle-driven housing.
Interest rose in waterfront living, flexible spaces like ADUs, outdoor features, privacy, and everyday comfort, while traditional luxury terms lost momentum heading into 2026.

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Chuck Barberini Real Estate