A pandemic era real estate price boom on the Mendocino Coast has thrilled home sellers, frustrated buyers, employers, and even some agents — and made renting more difficult and expensive for working people. There are also fewer houses being built or becoming vacant on the Coast than inland or most of the rest of the state, which show up in the state and local figures of shrinking number of closed sales, fast rising prices and shrinking inventory.
After a period of fear at the start of the pandemic in 2020, the upward march has been steady and the market has finally eclipsed the Coast real estate boom that ended in 2007, real estate agents say.
The real estate market on the coast has rocketed under during the pandemic with two primary factors: a slew of Bay Area remote workers with lots of money, and an old guard of Coast residents who have no interest in leaving their scenic and pleasant homes. The result has been an even tighter real estate market than in comparable spots across the state. The increasing number of vacation rentals has also made life tougher for renters.
