Redfin Predicts the Hottest Neighborhoods of 2017

SEATTLE — Jan. 19, 2017 — Redfin, the next-generation real estate brokerage, today announced its annual list of neighborhoods across the country it predicts will be the hottest this year, topped by Bushrod in Oakland. To rank the neighborhoods that are heating up the most, the brokerage analyzed hundreds  of millions of pageviews to Redfin.com and homes that users favorited to monitor for price and status changes. The analysis also takes into account insights from Redfin real estate agents who specialize in neighborhoods across these 39 major U.S. metros.

High-growth job centers are driving this year's list of hottest neighborhoods; the top three hottest neighborhoods all sit close to San Francisco and Seattle. But while home prices continue to rise in the centers of these booming tech cities, homebuyers are increasingly focusing their searches in neighboring cities like Oakland, Bellevue and Sunnyvale. Redfin real estate agents explain that these communities offer homebuyers the best balance of everything: quick access to  public transit, trendy shopping and dining options, plus larger move-in ready homes with charm and price tags that are a little easier to bear.

"Bushrod is a quaint enclave of homes with unique character nestled between the more established (and expensive) area of Rockridge and the increasingly trendy hot spot of Temescal. From Bushrod you can walk to some of the Bay Area's best  restaurants on College Ave. It's also walking distance to either the Ashby or Rockridge BART stations," said Redfin real estate agent Tom Hendershot. "Homebuyers often come to the area hoping to find something in Rockridge and ultimately realize they can have an even better lifestyle at a lower cost in Bushrod. This may not last for long though -- a two-bedroom starter home in this neighborhood recently sold for $200,000 over the list price and was off the market in 10 days."

Other neighborhoods that made the top 10 list, such as Eliot in Portland, Hollywood Park in Sacramento and Treme in New Orleans, are located in second-tier cities, which Redfin predicted would be particularly popular in 2017. Many of those  neighborhoods also feature renovated homes that preserve the nature and charm of the area while offering updated amenities.

"Redfin research shows that over the past five years, home prices in urban cores have shot up 50 percent faster than in the metro areas as a whole," said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. "Our data on homebuyer activity shows that this year people are bypassing the most expensive areas in the center city in search for high-end amenities and  renovated homes that are a few train or bus stops outside the city limits. The hottest neighborhoods of 2017 will be those edge communities that deliver urban convenience at prices that are closer to earth."

To view the full report, complete with analysis and rankings for the top three hottest neighborhoods in each of the 39 metros, click here.

Customizable data on all of the metros Redfin tracks in this report is available to view and download on Redfin's Data Center.

About Redfin
Redfin is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the highly accurate automated home-value estimate. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $31 billion in home sales and saved customers more than $335 million in fees through 2015.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com.