ZIP 19604 · Reading, PA · 29,408 residents · September 2026
Reading 19604: neither side has the edge.
Fair conditions for both sides. Typical home value $173K, +3.4% over 12 months; listings take 49 days to sell against 60 in the median U.S. ZIP.
Market balanceSeptember 2026
In Mar 2026: +6
Higher than 66% of scored ZIPs · #4,239 of 13,130 ZIPs with 5,000+ residents
Five parts, weighted. How the score works →
The reading
Where the balance sits this month and what moved it.
Month by month, since the gauge began
- Mar 2026+6
- Apr 2026+26
- May 2026+23
- Jun 2026+21
- Jul 2026+24
- Aug 2026—no reading on record
- Sep 2026−1
Each block is one month’s reading, −100 (buyers) to +100 (sellers). The series starts in March 2026. A dashed block has no reading on record. How the balance is measured →
What is pulling the needle
- 49 days on marketfaster than the U.S. median ZIP's 60 days
- 41% of listings cut pricemore than the U.S. median ZIP's 20%
- Sale-to-list 100.0%homes close at asking · Redfin, May 2026
- 40 active listings+43% vs a year ago
Blue pulls toward buyers, orange toward sellers. Realtor.com, September 2026; Redfin, May 2026.
Cooling: prices +3.4% over the trailing year, with the market leaning toward buyers.
Asking price vs sale price
Zillow's figure is a smoothed index of typical value, not a list price; Redfin's are closed sales for the month shown.
Last 90 days
How the typical value and the listings moved over the last three months.
Prices
Typical home value since 2000, and how far it moved over each window.
Zillow ZHVI peaked at $172,831 in August 2026, which is the latest value. Since January 2019 it is +144.4%. The sharpest 12-month move was +2.9%, ending August 2026.
Zillow's typical home value here, $173K in August 2026, is 40% below the median U.S. ZIP's $289K. Over the 12 months to August 2026, Zillow's typical home value moved +3.4% here and +2.8% in the median U.S. ZIP.
Price tiers and bedrooms
Starter homes here rose 74% in five years while top-tier homes rose 47% (Zillow ZHVI tiers) — the bottom of the market outpaced the top.
3-bedroom homes here run 21% above 2-bedrooms (Zillow ZHVI by bedroom); the PA median premium is 28%.
Zillow typical values by price tier, home type and bedrooms, August 2026.
How it ranks
Appreciation by window
| Window | Change | Per year | U.S. rank | Pennsylvania rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | +3.4% | +3.4%/yr | Higher than 67% nationally | Higher than 57% in Pennsylvania |
| 3 years | +29.4% | +9.0%/yr | Top 1% nationally | Top 1% in Pennsylvania |
| 5 years | +52.7% | +8.8%/yr | Top 1% nationally | Top 2% in Pennsylvania |
| 10 years | +209.4% | +12.0%/yr | Top 1% nationally | Top 2% in Pennsylvania |
| Since 2000 | +284.4% | +5.2%/yr | — | — |
Zillow ZHVI · rank among scored ZIPs
Forecast
Where the typical value is likely to be over the next 3 to 12 months, with the range the model has earned, and up to 36 months with Pro.
Last three years, then the forecast band
HavenScore Forecast Model (v1) · run October 1, 2026A forecast is a range, not a promise; the confidence word says how wide it is. How the forecast works →
Of the 3-month ranges we published since December 2025, 54% contained the actual price.
Zillow's own published forecast has this ZIP's typical value rise 4.6% over the twelve months from August 2026 (Zillow Home Value Forecast).
Payment
What a typical home here costs each month, against the typical income.
Monthly payment
$1,41932% of the median household income here ($52,863)Between the 28% and 36% lines lenders use. Rate is the Freddie Mac average for September 2026; tax is the state's statutory rate.
Insurance uses the average homeowners premium insurers reported for this ZIP in 2022, $1,047 a year (Treasury Federal Insurance Office).
Buying costs $95 a month more than renting here before tax effects and maintenance; the gap is 7% of rent. Rents moved +1.0% over the year.
Under these assumptions the cumulative cost of owning and renting cross in year 10.
Like for like: the HUD fair market rent for a 3-bedroom here is $1,840 a month (FY 2026), against a typical 3-bedroom value of $165K (Zillow, August 2026) — a 13.4% gross rent yield.
Price-to-income ladder
Median home value ÷ median household income · Zillow ZHVI, Census ACS · under 4× has historically been comfortable
The place
What it costs to own here beyond the price, and what the neighborhood is like.
Typical homes cost 3.3× the median household income here, against 3.7× in the median PA ZIP and 4.3× in the median U.S. ZIP (Zillow, August 2026; Census ACS 2023). Median household income is $52,863 here, against $71,388 in the median U.S. ZIP (Census ACS 2023).
Hazard ledger
FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release, refreshed annually · tract-level rolled up to ZIP · not a property-level rating · no future-year projection · the tick is the median of 39 scored ZIPs in Berks County.
Everyday prices
Everyday prices in the Reading metro run 3% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024).
Rents in the index run 15% below the U.S. average.
$75,000 at U.S.-average prices buys what $72,800 buys here.
Metro-level index, U.S. = 100 · 2024 · the Reading metro, not this ZIP alone.
Housing cost burden
Census ACS 2023 five-year estimates · the tick is the U.S. median ZIP.
Behind the score
The inputs behind each of the five parts, against the U.S. median ZIP.
Livability
63Seller's report
A two-page brief for selling here: the market balance, recent signals and an illustrative net-proceeds estimate.
Nearby
23 scored Pennsylvania ZIPs within 12 miles; the ones below score within ten points and cost less.
Dots are Pennsylvania ZIP centers colored by market balance; the ring is 12 miles.
Sources and freshness
Every figure on this page, where it came from and when.
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