In June of 2021, the town of Crested Butte, CO declared an affordable housing emergency due to multiple factors, including the so-called “Zoom Boom,” an influx of new residents seeking a scenic refuge to work from home after the worldwide crisis we experienced in 2020.
Property values in the resort town have skyrocketed since the 1990s. Houses that once sold for $60,000 now go for $1M and up. The median home value in Crested Butte increased by 38 percent in 2020, while supply dipped by 30 percent in 2021. The pricing surge, combined with long-term rentals switching to shorter-term, and wealthy non-residents building second or third homes on the ever-shrinking land supply, have only added to the crisis.
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