Housing

In some communities of the Lake Tahoe Region, second homeownership is almost 70%.

How Tahoe Measures Housing

A lack of affordable housing limits the ability of people to live close to work and can reduce the availability of qualified workers for local businesses. In response to high housing prices, local workers may be forced to choose between living outside the region and facing long commutes or paying more for housing than they can for housing. Commuting to and from the Lake Tahoe Region also increases greenhouse gas emissions and impacts quality of life.

Second Homeownership

This indicator measures the percentage of housing units in the Lake Tahoe Region that are in seasonal, recreational or occupational use, as opposed to in permanent occupancy by owners or renters. The US Census Bureau defines these units as vacant units used or intended for use only in certain seasons or for weekends or other occasional use throughout the year. Seasonal units include those used for summer or winter sports or recreation, such as beach cottages and hunting cabins. Interval ownership units, sometimes called shared-ownership or time-sharing condominiums, also are included.

By: Second Homeownership

Vacant units used or intended for use only in certain seasons or for weekends or other occasional use throughout the year. Seasonal units include those used for summer or winter sports or recreation, such as beach cottages and hunting cabins. Interval ownership units, sometimes called shared-ownership or timesharing condominiums, also are included.

Median House Prices

Median house prices provide an idea of the price of real estate in a certain area, and how prices have changed over time. Median house prices are used by real estate agents, buyers and sellers to inform home pricing and buying decisions, including potential buyers weighing the trade-offs of living outside of and commuting to jobs in the Lake Tahoe Region.

Median house prices provide an idea of the price of real estate in a certain area, and how prices have changed over time. Median house prices are used by real estate agents, buyers and sellers to inform home pricing and buying decisions, including potential buyers weighing the trade-offs of living outside of and commuting to jobs in the Tahoe Basin. The median is used instead of average to avoid outliers that will skew the average. This is particularly important in Lake Tahoe where the volume of sales is not significant and there is a small subset of homes that sell for very high prices (e.g. $10-$20 million). The few very high priced sales push the average sale to an inflated value, not showing the true market characteristics.

This indicator measures the annual median house price of houses sold in the Tahoe Basin. This indicator takes into account all single family homes sold in the Tahoe Basin within the desired reporting year. Median house price is the middle price in a series of sales, where half of the sales are of lower value and half are of higher value. Median house prices are provided by real estate agents operating in the Tahoe Basin with access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a national database that tracks home sales throughout the country. Median house prices for Tahoe Basin communities are aggregated to the county level (Placer County is split into two regions, north shore and west shore).

What is Tahoe Doing to Improve Housing

The Sustainable Communities Program is not currently reporting any action or leading indicators to improve housing.

Learn More/Get Involved

Data on this indicators is reported via the US Census and individual realtors in the Tahoe region.