Zillow names South Lake Tahoe the "Most Popular Overall Town"

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - West Coast cities took the top four spots of the most in-demand places of the year according to Zillow, the leading real estate marketplace in the country. Most of those spots belong to South Lake Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe came in as the Most Popular Overall Town, and actually came in number one for top vacation town and small town, but since named the "most popular overall town" it was omitted from the lists and the award went to the runner-up, according to Zillow. These are the other west coast winners: The Most Popular Vacation Town is Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Most Popular Beach Town: Newport, Oregon, and Most Popular Small Town: Calabasas, Calif

Based on Zillow's page-view traffic, available housing inventory, price appreciations, and other housing barometers that indicate consumer demand, South Lake Tahoe came out on top as the most popular city real estate-wise.

Zillow noted something those in South Lake Tahoe already know, the trends of people working remotely during the pandemic created a very active real estate market. These people explored new opportunities in areas that offer relative affordability and year-round outdoor living and recreation.

"South Lake Tahoe boasts vacation-style living along the largest freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada," said Zillow in their release of the winners. "Its high number of views on Zillow — 5,469 page views per listing — helped catapult it to the No. 1 spot. Lake Tahoe offers home buyers a small-town vibe, with an easy commute to the Bay Area and Sacramento to the west, and Carson City and Reno to the east. The typical home in South Lake Tahoe is valued at $692,792."

The only winners not on the West Coast were the top places for retirement: Lavallette, New Jersey, Dunedin, Florida, and St. Pete Beach, Florida.

The South Lake Tahoe real estate market has been very active throughout the pandemic, and since January 2019, has seen double-digit increases in the median sales price of condos and townhomes during 17 of those months. Single-family home sales saw double-digit increases in the sales price in 14 of those months when compared to the previous year.

"Zillow has ranked South Lake Tahoe as #1 viewed area in all of the United States. We are still seeing a high number of buyers coming into the South Lake Tahoe market as we wind down 2021 and enter into 2022. Although I do not have a crystal ball, trends are favoring another strong selling season for South Lake Tahoe with more and more people wanting to live and own in the area," said Kili Rahbeck, president of the South Tahoe Association of REALTORS®.

The median sales price of a single-family home in South Lake Tahoe in November was $699,000, up 21.5 percent from November 2020, and the median sales price of a condo/townhome was $432,500 in November 2021, up 8.1 percent from the previous year. In January 2019, the median single-family home sales price was $475,000.

In November this year, there were 137 active listings with 70 of those in escrow. Over the years that number was normal double that. In January 2019 there were 203 active listings, with 44 in escrow. One figure that did not go up over the last 12 months was the number of single-family homes sold. In the period ending November 30, 2021, there were 719 closed sales, 851 in the previous period. This isn't alarming as there were fewer homes for sale.

To come up with the winners, Zillow analyzed the following main variables:

Typical home values from October 2020 to October 2021
Year-over-year growth in typical home values from October 2020 to October 2021
Zillow page view counts per listings from January 2021 to November 2021
Median sales count from January 2021 to November 2021 (excluded cities with fewer than 25 median sales a month)
Median listings from January 2021 to November 2021 (excluded cities with fewer than 50 median listings a month)