8 minute read
On The Cover
Cold Comfort Humboldt real estate rises amid COVID, climate change
By Elaine Weinreb
newsroom@northcoastjournal.com
Humboldt County hasn’t always been well known to the rest of the state, with many Californians placing the northern border somewhere near San Francisco, long unaware one could drive six hours past “the City” and still be south of Oregon. But things are di erent now.
The Redwood Curtain has been lifted.
Trinidad has always been a tourist town but longtime residents will tell you this year has been unlike others in the past. Despite COVID-19, the streets of the tiny village were crowded with strangers and the big parking lot next to Trinidad State Beach was packed day in and day out. License plates were from Utah, Texas, Arizona and other hot, dry states. Long lines formed for take-out service at the town’s restaurants.
While the tourists are usually gone by Labor Day, the season continued well into October this year. A few said that they were fleeing the fires and looking for permanent housing. Many more said they were escaping the smoke that has blanketed the entire West Coast. Though there were smoky days here, it just didn’t seem as bad as where they came from. But the most common comment was that it was cool. They were not referring to lifestyles. They were referring to temperature.
While 78 degrees might be a record-breaker for the foggy coastal town of Trinidad, it was not 110.
Wildfires — and the hot, dry conditions that drive them — are the most visible symptom of climate change. Scientists warn more rather than fewer of them are likely as the global temperature inexorably climbs upward.
But the change is not evenly distributed and the increase of even one degree can make a great deal of di erence in local climate, says National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Ryan Aylward.
In coastal Humboldt, according to graphs furnished by Aylward, the average temperature has increased by two degrees Fahrenheit over the past 30 years. In comparison, Ukiah, some 150 miles to the southeast, has increased by three degrees, making a town that was always hot in the summer now unbearable to many.
Realtors are well aware that Humboldt’s coastline has suddenly become attractive as a climate refuge to both Californians and residents of other states.
“I’d never come here before,” one house hunter said. “I found Trinidad on a map — and here I am.” Others have come here before for vacations and decided it might be a good place to settle in — especially if their jobs enable them to work remotely, something many are doing in the COVID age. And, as restaurants, small shops and Homes in Trinidad.
Photo by Mark Larson entertainment venues began closing, the attraction of large cities — with the crowds and higher rates of COVID — is losing its luster for some.
Statistics kept by the California Association of Realtors show that home sale prices in the Bay Area and Southern California have started to drop as people emigrate to less crowded areas. And, not surprisingly, housing prices have risen in the coastal areas of Humboldt County.
“Real estate follows the laws of supply and demand,” local Realtor Patti Stearns said. “The supply is limited; the demand is high; so the prices go up.”
Stearns, who notes 60 percent of her new buyers are from outside Humboldt, estimates the price of a two-bedroom house in Arcata as $350,000 and one in Eureka as $300,000.
Prices, however, can go a lot higher.
“When people come here from other areas, they are initially surprised by the
prices. They have the ‘Humboldt Dream’ pay the rent. in their mind,” Stearns said. “They want Those cases might create another clean, breathable air, and open space. incentive to put rental property on the They want a nice big house with a lot of market while they still can — resulting in acreage that is close to town but has lots more displaced tenants. of privacy. They don’t want to be in a sub- Few people are willing to discuss their division. They are surprised to realize that fi nancial di culties publicly — but a even if they can fi nd this combination of close look at the local housing section attributes, it may cost over $5 million.” of Craig’slist shows about a third of the
Another factor in the real estate boom listings are from people wanting housing. is the drop in interest rates. With rates Many convey a sense of desperation. hovering at about 2.5 percent, the cost of “I’m looking for a studio in Arcata,” said a mortgage is much lower one young woman, “but I’ll than it would have been settle for anything within a fi ve years ago. Somebody 45-mile driving distance.” who might not have previously dreamed of “I’m looking Lowest rents, not surprisingly, can be found in buying a fi xer-upper can now borrow the money for a studio in Crescent City, which is 78 miles north of Arcata. For to make the necessary repairs without going broke Arcata,” said one those with a mobile home, RV or a tiny house, a space in the process. But salaries, like tem- young woman, can be had for less than $400 a month compared peratures, are not evenly distributed throughout “but I’ll settle to double for a one-bedroom apartment in Arcata, the state, and rural counties like Humboldt are not for anything at around $900 per month. That’s not including deposit, in the same range as large urban ones. within a 45-mile the possible need to pass a rigorous screening test and a So, a Bay Area climate refugee who is able to driving distance.” potential several month wait to get in. hold onto a high-paying At the bottom of the tech job and work from ladder are those withhome has a distinct out any four walls to call fi nancial advantage over a local nurse or their own, camping in their vehicles, teacher who thought they’d saved enough couch-surfi ng with friends or doubled up for a down payment on a starter home. with other family members. Even getting
Meanwhile, a strong housing market into a homeless shelter requires one to coupled with a limited housing stock puts be connected to a social services agency. additional pressure on the rental market, And there is a three- to fi ve-year waiting pricing some current residents out of it. list for a ordable housing units sponsored
With prices increasing, there is an by HUD, also called “Section 8 housing.” incentive for property owners to put their One elderly woman, who asked not to houses up for sale, which means if it was be identifi ed, said she had fi nally gotten previously being rented, the tenants must into a HUD apartment “after being on the fi nd a di erent place to live. This can be waiting list for three years.” di cult in an environment where there is How will this all turn out? Will Humalready a shortage of rental housing. boldt turn into another Carmel, available
“I have people who are waiting for a only to millionaires? Will a sudden houshouse to come onto the market — and in ing boom place even more pressure on the meantime they are renting here,” said our agricultural and forested lands? What Mike Reinman, the owner of North Coast will happen when sea level rise becomes Furnished Rentals. more noticeable and una ordable fl ood
He noted there is an incentive for own- insurance starts a ecting residents of King ers of rental properties to convert cheap Salmon and the peninsula? Only time will unfurnished apartments or houses into tell. more lucrative furnished rentals.
Moreover, state and local laws protect- ● ing tenants against eviction because of COVID-related fi nancial problems have had an unforeseen side e ect. Some Elaine Weinreb is a freelance landlords, especially small landlords who journalist. She tries to repay the state own one or two rental properties and of California for giving her a degree in depend on the rent for their own income, environmental studies and planning may be beginning to wonder what would (Sonoma State University) at a time happen to them if their tenants couldn’t when tuition was still a ordable. WHAT SHOULD PUBLIC TRANSIT LOOK LIKE IN MCKINLEYVILLE? We’re studying how to Where do you travel to or from improve public transit in McKinleyville, and how could in McKinleyville. If you transit get you there and back? live or work there, we want What transit improvements do to hear from you! you think McKinleyville needs?
Visit www.mckinleyvilletransitstudy.com or email mckinleyvilletransitstudy@gmail.com to let us know.
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