Sacramento #4 on list of hottest real estate markets for the coming year - once again.

We don’t have to look far for good news about the real estate market these days, but a recent report shines an even more positive light on forecasted home prices in Sacramento in the coming year.

According to Realtor.com’s annual report on the residential real estate markets they believe will be the hottest in the coming year, Sacramento distinguished itself, once again. In fact, Realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke projects Sacramento to be the fourth hottest residential real estate market in the entire country in 2017, with anticipated appreciation rates of 7.2%. Additionally, the report by Realtor.com’s economic analysts predicts that sale volume will also be up 4.9% in 2017.

That follows up on a stellar year for real estate in Sacramento in 2016. Interestingly, a year ago, Sacramento was also ranked #4 in the nation for projected real estate price and sales growth in 2016, making Sacramento the only metropolitan statistical area to rank in the top five both years!

This year’s report also estimates the median home price to be $420,000, so an added 7.18% would bring the median to $450,156,000.

While Sacramento home prices have appreciated rapidly in past years, the region is still primed for growth. Sacramento is the most affordable major city in California, with home prices well less than half of those in San Francisco, San Jose and the Bay Area.

More and more businesses are coming to Sacramento, bringing good-paying jobs, and the new Golden 1 Arena and revitalization in midtown, downtown, the Railyards, East Sacramento, and West Sacramento are well underway. With an extremely tight supply of existing homes and too few new homes under construction, the housing shortage in Sacramento means the price of rent is skyrocketing, further invigorating the residential real estate market.

That’s a notable contrast from Smoke’s predictions for the entire U.S. real estate market, which he expects to slow down slightly, but not falter. According to Smoke and Realtor.com, the U.S. could see an average of 3.9% in home price appreciation and only 1.9% in sales volume growth in 2017.

The report also highlights the fact that many of the fastest-growing real estate markets are in metropolitan areas in the Western United States. In fact, Western cities account for 11 of the top 25 cities on the list for 2017, including 5 cities in California.

On average, the top 10 metropolitan markets on the list will see price gains of 5.8% with an increase in sales volume 6.3%

Here is the data on the top-20 real estate markets expected to grow the fastest according to Realtor.com:

1. Phoenix, AZ

Median Price: $300,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 5.94%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 7.24%

2. Los Angeles, CA

Median Price: $675,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 6.90%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 6.03%

3. Boston, MA

Median Price: $480,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 6.09%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 6.32%

4. Sacramento, CA

Median Price: $420,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 7.18%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 4.92%

5. Riverside, CA

Median Price: $350,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 4.98%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 6.88%

6. Jacksonville, FL

Median Price: $284,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 4.79%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 7.03%

7. Orlando, FL

Median Price: $272,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 5.69%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 6.10%

8. Raleigh, NC

Median Price: $312,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 4.16%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 7.55%

9. Tucson, AZ

Median Price: $237,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 6.10%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 5.47%

10. Portland, OR

Median Price: $420,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 6.55%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 5.02%

11. Durham, NC

Median Price: $320,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 2.55%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 8.95%

12. Colorado Springs, CO

Median Price: $335,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 4.77%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 6.71%

13. Jackson, MS

Median Price: $207,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 1.98%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 9.44%

14. Detroit, MI

Median Price: $195,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 5.17%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 6.22%

15. San Diego, CA

Median Price: $620,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 6.47%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 4.89%

16. Salt Lake City, UT

Median Price: $345,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 6.66%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 4.67%

17. Deltona, FL

Median Price: $260,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 3.10%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 8.23%

18. Provo, UT

Median Price: $334,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 5.16%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 5.84%

19. Austin, TX

Median Price: $385,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 3.50%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 7.40%

20. Seattle, WA

Median Price: $430,000

Projected Price Growth in 2017: 7.36%

Projected Sales Growth in 2017: 3.41%

Where Sacramento ranks for just about everything.

Our beloved Sacramento has a rare gift of polarizing opinions - people seem to either love it or hate it.  But how does The City of Trees rank against the rest of the country?  We dug through dozens of articles, polls, blogs, and reports to come up with the most comprehensive Sacramento rankings…for just about everything you can imagine.

Of course this isn't a perfect science.  Some of these data sources included areas surrounding Sacramento, some did not.  Polls tended to rank out of 30 large metropolitan areas, 100 cities, or 200+ cities.  So to make this information easier to digest, I highlighted the bad stuff in red and the really good stuff in blue.

Some of these might surprise you!  Have fun!

Where Sacramento ranks for just about everything:

Lifestyle and livability.

#5 Worst places to live in the country.

#6 Most fun, affordable city.

#12 Americas dirtiest cities

#18 Worst run cities in America.

#91 Best places to live.

Economy, financial, and jobs.

#2 Retirement financial readiness.

#3 Fastest growing new car market.

#6 Worst places to find a job.

#7 Prosperity index.

#10 Best for women in workforce.

#12 Clean economy jobs.

#34 Best credit scores.

#38 Small business friendly cities.

#60 Access to jobs via public transit.

#97 Labor market for young adults.

#259 Charitable giving.

Online and tech.

#1 Top digital small city (Roseville.)

#4 Fastest growing for tech jobs.

#5 Best airport for tech travelers.

#9 Most likely for identity theft.

#10 Most vulnerable to online threats.

Pets.

#2 Pet friendly city in America.

#7 Best city for cats.

#9 postal service dog attacks

#11 Most pampered pet cities.

#34 Best for dogs (no wonder why there are so many postal attacks!)

Happiness and friendliness.

#1 Happiest workers in mid sized cities.

#7 Happiest young professionals.

#8 Most stressed out cities.

#9 Funniest cities.

#10 Unfriendliest cities.

Bikes, parks, and recreation.

#1 Best family-friendly place to fish and boat.

#7 Public park access and spending.

#7 Park score index.

#10 Best for urban forests.

#11 best city bike paths.

#11 Bicycle commuters.

#24 Walkable cities.

#25 Best bike cities.

Sports.

#1 Most valuable minor league baseball teams.

#4 Best baseball cities.

#23 Sacramento Kings ranked as a basketball team out of 30 NBA teams.

#47 America’s manliest sports city.

#122 Sacramento Kings as a professional sports franchise. (Dead last!)

Crime, theft, and safety.

#1 Least calamitous cities for natural disasters and storms.

#6 Watercraft thefts.

#13 Vehicle thefts.

#23 Most dangerous cities for pedestrians.

#53 Best city for crime.

#140 Safest driving cities.

#348 Highest crime cities in America. (Out of 437.)

Affordability and housing.

#1 Biggest housing inventory contraction.

#2 Market for housing recovery.

#3 Hottest housing market.

#6 Home affordability.

#10 Best destination for your vacation dollar.

#21 Yuppie price index.

#50 Gas prices.

Education.

#3 Library of the year voting.

#10 Smartest cities.

#46 Best college bang-for-the-buck.

#66 Sacramento State college ranking.

#84 Most eLiterate (Kindles, Nooks, eBooks, smartphones, etc.)

Health.

#1 City for bedbug pest termination calls.  (Yuck!)

#2 Most eye healthy cities.

#3 Healthiest eaters.

#5 Highest ozone days.

#7 Healthiest cities.

#8 Most stressful cities.

#10 American Fitness Index.

#11 Most glutunous cities.

#17 Healthiest city for kids.

#20 Most caffeinated cities.

#44 Most sleepless cities.

#72 Asthma capitals.

#88 Cities for well being.

#99 Allergy capitals. (99 out of 100)

Dating, gender, and social life.

#11 Best city for staying young.

#11 Best cities to be a woman.

#16 City for people 35 and younger.

#20 Cities with the most handsome men. (Ranked last out of 20 cities!)

#31 Most single city.

#40 Best city for dating.

#43 America’s most manly cities. (Haha!)

#48 Most romantic cities.

Funny and interesting.

#4 GTL’s! Social media check-ins for gyms tanning salons, and laundry mats. (Great!)

#4 Best cities for nerds. (Atlanta, Seattle, and Portland are top.)

#30 most generous tippers (Average tip is 18.7%, below the national average of 19.2%.)

#4 Best cities to be a chicken (ranked by number of backyard chicken coops.)

#8 Most redneck cities.

#9 Top marijuana friendly cities.

#15 Vainest city. (A lot of selfies!)

#47 America’s luckiest city. (A stat compiled from lottery winners, golf hole-in-ones, and lightning strike victims!)