Here is one sure sign the Central Valley economy is finally improving: Sacramento is considered one of the "Top 10 Hottest Housing Markets for 2017."
Sacramento is the only California city in Zillow's Top 10. The Capital City comes in at number ten stands out for affordability. In the Sacramento region housing prices are are 60-percent cheaper than the Bay Area. The average price in Sacramento is $283,000 right now, according to Zillow. That is far short of the 2005 peak of $394,000, but prices are going up. KFBK's financial expert Kelly Brothers says the signs have been there for months with new housing coming online for the first time in about a decade. "You're seeing it downtown, you're seeing it in midtown, you're seeing in McKinnley Village, you're seeing it out in some of the outlying areas," said Brothers.
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One reason housing prices are rising is because owners are hanging on to their homes longer. In many case existing homes are going on the market after ten years instead of five.
Six of Zillow's "Top 10 Hottest Housing Markets" are in the west.