Hottest neighborhoods of 2015 include two in Northern California, report says

Sorry SoCal, but Northern California neighborhoods are topping real estate this year.

A report from online real estate brokerage Redfin, which calculates the “hottest” US neighborhoods for real estate activity each year, compiled a list based on the number of page views, favorites and Redfin “Hot Homes” in a neighborhood, after adjusting for size.

This year, Curtis Park in Sacramento made it in sixth place, and Crocker in San Francisco was ranked ninth. Only one in San Diego placed first, but no neighborhoods in Los Angeles made the top 10 cut—which is most likely something to do with affordability.

“In 2015, it will be all about compromise. There are finally more houses for sale, and affordability is once again buyers’ top concern,” the report by Redfin author/researcher Antonio Kirson said. “They may give up on living in the trendiest ZIP code, but they won’t sacrifice convenience.”

Redfin’s recent home buyer survey ranked affordability as the largest impediment to owning a home, the first time that has happened since early 2012.

“Many homebuyers have recoiled from the dramatic increase in house prices in urban centers posted over the past three years,” said Redfin Chief Economist Nela Richardson in a statement. “They are now searching for more affordable places farther out. Expect the neighborhoods on this list to see high demand in 2015 as rock-bottom mortgage rates and a more lenient mortgage lending environment help make homeownership in expensive cities less costly.”

Redfin ranked El Cerrito in the San Diego area as its number one neighborhood, 10 miles from downtown with a 2014 median price of $320,000. East Coast neighborhoods followed, including East Atlanta, Queens, and Long Island, New York.

Last year, Eagle Rock was ranked number two, with a median home price of $539,000. In 2013, Highland Park was rated first by the Redfin report.

“The neighborhoods that are going to be in the most popular this year aren’t suburban, but they aren’t quite urban either; they’re in a sweet spot where affordability and convenience overlap,” the report stated.

Redfin economists also predicted which neighborhoods would be the hottest for individual metro localities, based on data that shows the places which have had the most growth in Redfin page views, Favorites, and “Hot Homes.” Emergent, trendy areas in large cities like Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles all made the cut.

(With reports from Los Angeles Times, Redfin.com)