Which Neighborhoods Will Be the Hottest in 2013?

by Tim Ellis | 66 Comments

Most analysts now agree that 2012 was the bottom for the housing market, and 2013 is likely to usher in further gains in both home prices and sales, but not all neighborhoods are created equal. When you buy a home, you want to know that you’ll be moving into a desirable neighborhood.

With more than 600 real estate agents helping our customers buy and sell homes across the country, we decided to go straight to our sources in the trenches to find out which neighborhoods will be the hottest; where trendy appeal and growing buyer interest will drive up home prices more than other nearby areas in the coming year.

We asked our agents which neighborhoods or cities in their area will be the most up-and-coming in 2013, then we dove into the data to narrow down their suggestions to the three hottest ‘hoods in each market. We evaluated how each area’s market was trending at the end of 2012 in four categories: on-market listings, sales volume, median price per square foot, and sale-to-list ratio. We ranked every neighborhood in each category and selected the areas with the most consistent trends in each category as the hottest.

The hottest neighborhoods are all seeing shrinking selection, increasing sales, and increasing prices—often at rates far above the metro areas that contain them. Here are the ten hottest neighborhoods (or small cities) for 2013, along with their year-over-year trend in listings, sales, and median price per square foot as of December.

Rank Metro Area Neighborhood Listings Sales Price
1 Los Angeles Highland Park -48% +73% +31%
2 San Diego Mira Mesa -69% +48% +21%
3 Los Angeles Faircrest Heights -63% +17% +29%
4 Los Angeles Eagle Rock -54% +44% +11%
5 Bay Area Livermore -71% +13% +20%
6 Bay Area Willow Glen -60% +9% +32%
7 Los Angeles Glassell Park -64% +31% +17%
8 Chicago Logan Square -10% +94% +20%
9 Bay Area The Mission -29% +17% +80%
10 Seattle N. Maple Leaf -44% +15% +22%

“The housing market may be recovering nationwide, but the reality on the ground is sometimes more complicated than that,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “For 16 markets across the country, Redfin’s local real estate agents collaborated with our analytics team to identify the neighborhoods where we expect prices to rise the most this year, based on activity from about 10,000 active homebuyers, and data from more than more than 130,000 listings. The results surprised us: the hottest neighborhoods aren’t the well-known bastions of privilege. They’re once-gritty urban areas and far-flung suburbs with school districts on the rise. This is the surest sign that the recovery is broadening, and that home-buyers are venturing out to once-marginal areas hit hard when the bubble burst.”

Here are the top neighborhoods (or cities) in sixteen markets across the US. What makes a market likely to heat up? Our agents frequently cited new restaurants, a hip local vibe, good schools, and convenient commutes among the factors that will drive buyers to these areas.

2013′s Hottest Up-and-Coming Neighborhoods

Read on for all three of the top neighborhoods (or cities) in each market.


2013′s Top Three Neighborhoods by Metro Area

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