A surprising new suburb has become the hottest property spot in the Bay Area with prices shooting up fast. 

The Woodlands suburb near San Francisco has attracted young families that are being priced out of the notoriously expensive city center. 

The neighborhood has seen prices rocket 40 percent between February 2020 and the same month 2024. 

The typical home in the area is now valued at $1.46 million, according to Zillow.  

The rise is in keeping with a general trend for the Bay Area of buyers moving out of metropolitan areas and snapping up properties in suburban communities with good schools and space.

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Prices in San Francisco rose by 19 percent in the same four years – a substantial amount but a rate of increase far outpaced by its popular suburbs. 

The nearby neighborhood of Walnut Creek, which backs onto the the Lime Ridge hiking area, has also seen its prices rise by 30 percent in the same period. 

The sharpest rise in Woodlands’ home prices came in the first two years of the pandemic when work-from-home policies allowed high earning workers in the city to move out to bigger houses with more green space. 

While prices are still rising higher mortgage rates as a result of hiked interest rates have slowed buyers demand. 

Both Woodlands and Walnut Creek homes have increased around 4 percent in value between February 2023 and February 2024. 

Home-working residents have also added home offices and out-buildings to their properties which has driven up prices even further, realtor and longtime Woodlands resident Dayna Wilson told the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The neighborhoods have both an elementary and several middle and high schools nearby. 

Julie Rattaro, who grew up in Woodlands returned to raise her own kids there and now works at local Valle Verde Elementary.

Rattaro told the Chronicle that she has watched prices rise since buying her current home with her husband twelve years ago. 

The mother said most of her neighbors are from San Francisco and other cities.

Woodlands homes tend to be around 1,800 to 2,300 square feet with wide roads and idyllic green verges. 

The area is walking distance from large grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Safeway, as well as other amenities such as shopping centers. 

The area has also attracted grandparents who want to live near their young grandchildren, according to local Sharon Vanni. 

‘There’s never not been an interest in the Woodlands,’ she told the Chronicle.