The Brighton-Allston area was No. 3, followed by Spring Hill in Somerville at No. 6 and Cambridgeport at No. 10.

Cambridge’s Inman Square was No. 1 on the list, according to Seattle-based Redfin, with a $660,000 median sales price and homes going for 68 percent over the asking price.

Four Boston-area neighborhoods are among the top-10 hottest in the nation for home buying, according to a national real estate brokerage that tracks the data.

“These four metro areas have set themselves apart in terms of attracting and creating high-wage jobs in tech, pharma, and finance and that has heated up the local housing market,’’ according to Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “When a short supply of homes collides with high-income homebuyers you get this hot, hyper-competitive climate.”


Neighborhoods near MIT and Harvard are definite hot spots, according Redfin, which ranked the areas based on seven factors, from price increases and days on the market to the prevalence of all-cash offers and bidding wars.

“It’s incredibly rare for a home in Cambridge not to get multiple offers,’’ Boston Redfin agent Katie Gustafson said in a statement. As a result, buyers are making offers above list price, waiving contingencies and taking other measures to secure transactions.

Gustafson said the Boston-Cambridge area’s medical, pharmaceutical and high-tech fields continue to drive demand. Five additional Boston-area neighborhoods also made the top 30.

Brighton and Allson saw the most all-cash deals, at 61 percent, according to Redfin.

Other highly competitive areas in the top-10 are in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco.

On the west coast, median sale prices are vaulting more than 88 percent over asking prices in San Francisco neighborhoods where houses fetch more than $1 million.

Hot spots The Boston area has four of the 10 hottest neighborhoods in the nation for home buyers. Rank Neighborhood City Median sales price 1 Inman Square Cambridge $660,000 2 Overlake Redmond $602,000 3 Brighton/Allston Boston $341,000 4 Roosevelt Seattle $627,750 5 Hawthorne Seattle $521,250 6 Spring Hill Somerville $619,000 7 Grass Lawn Redmond $482,500 8 Central Sunset San Francisco $1,150,000 9 Phinney Ridge Seattle $670,000 10 Cambridgeport Cambridge $712,000 SOURCE : Redfin

Beth Healy can be reached at beth.healy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @HealyBeth.