Global Tech Hub Posts the Biggest Jump Among Top Metros in the Hottest Markets Ranking

While the South and West continued trailing behind the Northeast and Midwest in buyer demand last month, San Francisco stood out by notching the biggest surge in popularity among the nation's largest metros.

The pricey metro that anchors the Bay Area—one of the world's largest technology and innovation hubs powering the AI revolution—climbed 36 spots in November 2025's Hottest Housing Markets ranking from Realtor.com® compared to last year.

This marks the most dramatic year-over-year rise in rankings when looking at large U.S. markets, landing San Francisco in the 109th spot—up from 145th in November 2024—and making it the hottest California metro.

A market's hotness is determined by the level of demand in a given area, as measured by unique views per property on Realtor.com, combined with the pace of the market as measured by the number of days a listing remains active online.

The median list price in San Francisco was $915,000, down 5.6% from last year but $500,000 higher than the national figure, according to the November 2025 housing market trends report from Realtor.com. 

The typical home in The Golden City waited for a buyer for 50 days, compared with the national median of 64 days—three days longer than a year ago—signaling that the California metro's housing market moves faster than the country's.

"The San Francisco housing market has remained relatively steady even as the national market has softened, driving its hotness rank higher," says Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.

More broadly, San Francisco has held its ground year over year, with time on the market decreasing by a day and listing viewership on Realtor.com ticking up relative to the national average.

"This indicates that while the national market continues to cool, San Francisco is experiencing far less of a slowdown and maintaining stronger overall demand," says Jones.

Other large markets that experienced significant jumps in rankings compared to last year include Pittsburgh, which rose 31 spots; Kansas City, MO (29); Nashville, TN (19), and New York, NY (16).  

Northeast and Midwest dominate the hottest markets

For the seventh consecutive month in November, Springfield, MA, topped the ranking of the nation's hottest markets by drawing three times the viewers per property compared to the national average.

For-sale homes in Springfield lingered on the market just 33 days, which is not surprising considering that the median list price in the metro is $350,000—less than half that in Boston, located 90 miles to the east. 

Among the 21 hottest metros on the November list (including ties), 11 were located in the Northeast and 10 in the Midwest.

Notably, the two regions were the only ones represented in the ranking for the 26th month in a row, due to their tight inventories and elevated buyer demand. 

Midwestern markets attracted an average of 2.6 times more listing views than the typical U.S. listings and sold 25 days faster. 

Within the region, Wisconsin stood out for having six of America's most in-demand metros, led by Kenosha in the No. 2 spot.

Meanwhile, the cities of Janesville, WI, and Appleton, WI, both jumped 40 spots from last year, the most among the month's 20 hottest markets.

This frenzy of activity could be explained by the fact that affordable "refuge markets" continue to attract budget buyers from more expensive cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

But that surging popularity comes with rising prices: On average, the most red-hot markets in the Midwest saw home prices rise 4.5% from the same period a year ago.

In the Northeast, the hottest markets experienced price gains averaging 1.3% year over year.

Looking forward to 2026, researchers at Realtor.com expect housing conditions to regain more balance nationally, though the Midwest and Northeast are likely to continue to see tighter inventory than the West and South.