In late December, Zillow, the online real estate site, identified what it called the country’s “most popular place” of 2021, capping off yet another year of housing insanity. The winner, based on listing views, rising home prices and more, was South Lake Tahoe. The average Tahoe home listing generated 5,469 views. The region’s average home price has jumped a whopping 35% since 2020, to $875,000. Cities like South Lake Tahoe, which is nestled in the Sierra Nevada, reflect what Zillow calls a nationwide trend: affluent folks able to work remotely during the pandemic moving to areas where they could enjoy “year-round outdoor living.”