Key Highlights
- Zoom towns – towns that are booming since remote work took off
- Vacation destinations like Truckee seeing housing markets up +23% from last year
- National prices up +8% over last year
Ever heard of Truckee, CA? It’s a mountain town just northwest of Lake Tahoe. In and of itself, Truckee has great skiing, mountain biking and hiking along with lakes and a river, some great restaurants and an up and coming arts scene. It’s also close to world class ski resorts such as Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal Ridge, Sugar Bowl and Northstar, to name a few.
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Truckee is approximately three hours from San Francisco with home prices roughly half those in San Francisco. Truckee’s housing market has increased +23% in the last year, according to Redfin, and is one of many places journalists and real estate agents are calling “Zoom Towns,” towns that are booming since remote work skyrocketed during the COVID pandemic outbreak.
Actually, the only towns that are not Zoom towns in today’s current nationwide housing market in which home prices are up +8% since this time last year, again according to Redfin, are New York and San Francisco, the two markets that had already reached historic peaks.
This housing market boom is rather overwhelming in the midst of massive levels of unemployment and business bankruptcies and closings. What’s driving this market boom? Millennials coming of home-buying age who are still employed, historically low interest rates and demand for more space.
Take a look at what’s been happening in Boise ID compared to 12 months ago. Home prices have increased +16.58%, according to weknowboise.com. Record high home prices in both Ada and Canyon Counties with record-low inventories are making the Boise housing market as competitive as an extreme sport.
Just 90 minutes from Telluride CO, a world-class ski and summer festival town that draws international guests and multiple homeowners, Montrose CO has seen its owner-occupied housing priced from $400,000 to $499,999 appreciate +24.4% this last year. The Salt Lake City housing market has appreciated +74% in the last 10 years and +10.8% since last year at this time, according to Redfin.
Even non-vacation destinations such as Abilene TX have seen record appreciation rates increase +25% over the past three years, according to fortunebuilders.com.
The point is this: remote working, historically low interest rates and Millennials coming of home-buying age are fueling Zoom towns. If you are an agent/broker in any town outside of New York City and San Francisco, have at it.
Thanks to fortunebuilders.com, Redfin, weknowboise.com and National Public Radio.
Also read: Housing Market Competition Continues, National Rent Index Down -0.3% Since Pandemic Beginnings, No, Pandemic Is NOT Causing Mass Migration to Suburbs
