Tahoe Housing Trouble Part 2: Employers cite housing for inability to find employees
Even on the busiest weekend, drive through a Lake Tahoe neighborhood and you're likely to see some houses with the lights off and curtains drawn, locked up for months at a time. Growing second home ownership has helped contribute to a shrinking inventory of available housing.
Since 2003, second home ownership in the Tahoe Basin has increased in all four Tahoe counties, according to data from Tahoe Prosperity Center (TPC).
The nationwide trend of rising home prices is not helping the situation. According to data from the U.S. Census, the median cost of a U.S. home in 1940 was short of $53,000 when adjusted for inflation. In South Lake Tahoe, median home price just passed the $500,000 mark, and that's low compared to the rest of the lake. In Incline Village, median home prices are closer to $1 million.