El Cerrito, in San Diego, CA, topped the list. The median home price is $320,000, and homes stay on the market for a median of 26 days. Two Woodridges made the list, one in Washington D.C. ($388,000 median home price, median of 26 days on the market) and one in Seattle. The Seattle neighborhood’s high prices — a median of $615,000 — don’t seem to scare buyers off; the homes only stay on the market for a median of eight days.
The neighborhoods, which also include spots in in Queens, NY and Atlanta, GA, tend to feel like something between the suburbs and the city, Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson tells Businessweek. People still want to be able to walk around the area, but the traditional hot spots in the city are too expensive.
In order to make its hottest list, Redfin looked at neighborhoods with the largest page view and “favorites” increases, and their percentage of “hot homes,” meaning that within two weeks the houses have at least a 70 percent chance of getting an offer accepted.
Redfin claims it has a pretty good track record of predicting these neighborhoods. Eight of its 10 hottest neighborhoods for 2014 outperformed other areas in the same city. Of course, that means two fell short, and they missed out on naming a few other ‘hoods that gained in popularity last year.
Basically, there’s still a chance that your secret gem of a neighborhood is still about to become extremely popular, even if it’s not on the list.
