Home shopping season is here, and the experience can feel quite different for house hunters in Boston than those in Miami. While the housing market this spring is generally more balanced and buyer-friendly than in recent years, there are pockets where competition is intense and there are bidding wars for most homes. 

There are about 5.5 engaged home shoppers — people who have saved or shared a for-sale listing on Zillow — for every home on the market nationwide. The ratio is greater than 10-to-1 in four Northeast markets: Buffalo, Hartford, Providence and Boston. In each of these metro areas, the typical home sells within 10 days and more than half of homes are selling above list price, indicating a bidding war with multiple offers. 

Other competitive markets with a lot of engaged home shoppers per listing are Richmond (9.1 engaged home shoppers per listing), Raleigh (8.9), San Francisco (8.4), Portland (8.3) and Sacramento (8.3).

Buyers will have the best shot at being the only bidder on their dream home in the Sun Belt. There are 14 major metro areas with fewer engaged home shoppers per listing than the national average, and 12 of those are in the Sun Belt. The others are Salt Lake City and Riverside. 

Buyers have the least competition in Miami, where there are only 2.6 engaged home shoppers per listing. Other markets with not much competition are Houston (3.4), New Orleans (3.5), Memphis (3.9) and San Antonio (4.3).