Realtor.com’s latest “Hotness Index” is loaded with Bay Area markets, which is only to be expected.
Less expected is this: the Vallejo-Fairfield market is the No. 1 “hottest” market in the United States of America. Yes, you read that correctly.
The monthly index measures where houses are selling the fastest, as well as which markets are generating the most listing views on realtor.com.
Beyond that, the index has become a reflection of our region’s housing crisis, which is pushing Bay Area commuters to buy homes at relatively affordable prices in out-of-the-way places.
Yes, the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metropolitan area is the No. 2 “hottest” in the country and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is No. 9 on the list.
But then there is the Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade metro (No. 4), Stockton-Lodi (No. 14) and Santa Rosa (No. 17).
Yuba City — yes, Yuba City — is the nation’s 19th hottest market and Modesto is No. 2o.
Realtor.com reports that “there were 11 percent fewer homes on the market (nationally) in June 2017 than during the same time last year, marking 24 consecutive months of year-over-year inventory declines.”
Given that the housing supply is at historically low levels in the Bay Area — where the job force keeps growing along with buyers’ demands for homes — it isn’t so surprising that the march of gentrification is reaching Vallejo and Yuba City.
Top: Photo of home for sale in Pleasanton, Calif. (Courtesy of Redfin)