High Desert Cities Saw the Biggest Home Price Increases During the Pandemic

Cities in San Bernardino County saw the largest rise in home prices during the pandemic, as remote workers purchased real estate in cheaper, more far flung areas of the state.

These were the top five California zip codes for home price increases during the pandemic, according to a new analysis from the San Francisco Chronicle:

1) 92285
Landers/Homestead Valley, San Bernardino County
Growth: 84.1%

2) 92252
Joshua Tree, San Bernardino County
Growth. 69.1%

3) 92277
Twentynine Palms, San Bernardino County
Growth: 63.3%

4) 92368
Oro Grande/Victorville/Adelanto, San Bernardino County
Growth: 62.7%

5) 92363
Needles/Lake Havasu/Arrowhead Junction/Ibis, San Bernardino County
Growth: 62.0%

The Los Angeles Times profiled some young professionals who moved from big cities to the high desert last year. Not all of them have been welcomed by their new communities.

“It’s a time of change. A lot of people here are having a tough time with it and I am very sympathetic. It’s a tough situation — gentrification reached the desert and it’s good and bad,” realtor Tom Murtagh told the Times. “There’s money to fix things, but it’s a double-edged sword.”

List and data were compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle and do not necessarily reflect statistics on all cities.