Of course, which market is hot all depends on what your looking for.
If you are an investment buyer, you will be looking at an entirely different criteria than a person buying a home to live in.
As a good rule of thumb, good schools (whether you have kids or not) tend to be a good place to ensure that you get a decent rate of return on your investment.
Which is one of the reasons you buy real estate-a long term investment.
The other reasons for buying real estate include a sense of community and stability for you and your family.
That being said, popular selling neighborhoods, typically are near your daily conveniences, decent road access, good schools and recreational areas near by.
The way to tell if you are hitting a home run on the home you are about to purchase, can be viewed by the average days on market for homes to sell within the community.
If the homes going on the market within a community, all tend to linger (FOREVER), they will do so in the future. There is something not quite right for the homes to just sit there.
Your objective (as a home buyer) should be to purchase a home, with an eye on its ability to sell in the future. Or you will be sticking yourself with a financial burden.
The difference with new construction and buying a resale home, is that you will have to rely on how many homes and how much interest is being given to a new home community.
If it is extremely well marketed, and the home contracts are going off the charts, chances are, you will do just fine.
It's nice to have a bit of ongoing product to look at as well as the community's future development chart.
You don't want to own a home for five years, and put yours on the market when the builder is still in there selling new homes.
It's tough to compete with new construction and the incentives they offer---within your own neighborhood.
For us, it's easy to pick out the hot communities, as many were hot when they started and have remained so to this day.
Experience and keen insight with regards to our local real estate market is what sets us apart from the rookies:)