In their “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2014 (pdf)”, The Urban Land Institute named San Francisco the #1 real estate market in the country:
#1- San Francisco
The top-ranked market in the survey for the second year in a row, San Francisco has a real estate sector driven by a thriving economy that is projected to add jobs at a rate of 2 percent next year. According to survey respondents, the city is a solid “buy” for all property types, with each of these recommendations higher than the average for the other major markets.The other cities rounding out the top 5, in order are: Houston, San Jose, NY and Dallas/Fort Worth
Multifamily housing, which has been the most popular sector in recent reports, is still popular with investors, as the underlying fundamentals remain intact due to demand from members of generation Y seeking to rent and baby boomers looking to downsize from houses to apartments.”
There is a TON of good information in this report, so I highly recommend clicking through to read some, if not all, of the report.
–The full and very long report is here (pdf) [Urban Land Institute]