Suisun City in top 20 of hottest-selling real estate in country

SUISUN, Calif. (KGO) -- There's a new list of the hottest-selling real estate markets in the country. What was once a sleepy little delta town has cracked the top 20 and you may be surprised at who is buying these hot properties.

A real estate market is considered hot when homes are on the market for an average of 25 days or less.

Suisin City hit that mark in July, and millennials are believed to be fueling the market.

Old photos inside Virgil's Bait Shop show the dusty little delta town Suisun City used to be, but things have changed. "Suisun City has been on fire," real estate agent Janna Swank-Mahoney said.

Swank-Mahoney showed ABC7 News the last home for sale in a brand new development and explained why homes here are selling. "You've got I-680 and I-80 for commuting. Second thing is the renovated harbor where you can take out your sailboats and kayaks and enjoy the water and the third thing is you've got close proximity to San Francisco at a fraction of the cost," she said.

In August of last year, 39 homes sold in Suisun City and this August that number rose to 48. The average price in August of last year was $309,000. This year, the price jumped 20 percent to $371,000. Compared to the rest of the Bay Area, that's still affordable. "May not be for much longer. People are moving here, therefore the prices are going up," business owner Joyce Oren said.

And who is paying those prices? Realtor Michelle Perez says a significant number are millennials. "They're looking to afford a home because rent is so high," she said.

And mortgage interest rates are low, which is another incentive to buy. That's music to the ears of people who already own homes in the area. "What it means is my property value is worth a lot more and that means we're paper rich," homeowner Isabelle Ramos said.

And being paper rich is much better than being dirt poor.