Real estate in California was hopping last month with 10 cities among the nation's hottest markets. The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward region topped Realtor.com's list of the hottest residential real estate markets in September, followed by Vallejo, CA, and Denver, with Dallas and San Diego rounding out the top five.

Other California cities on the list included Stockton, Sacramento, San Jose, Modesto, Yuba City, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz. Realtor.com considers hot markets those with inventory moving 23 to 43 days faster and listings getting 1.4 to 3.7 times more views than the national average.

The site's preliminary data revealed home sales were 4% faster than last year with median home prices at $250k, higher than one year ago, and a new high for September. Properties spent five more days on the market than last month, but sold three days faster than a year ago. Inventory is also lower than one year ago, creating a tighter market.