FALLOUT: ‘We’re running out of homes for sale,’ Lake Tahoe brokers say as tech workers flee Bay Area.

A new wave of urban flight is reshaping real estate markets from New York to Chicago and Los Angeles to San Francisco. As part of this shift, Lake Tahoe is seeing unprecedented bidding wars, buying activity and price increases. Brokers say the inventory of homes for sale has shrunk to about one-fifth to one-tenth of the usual levels.

“People are writing all-cash offers for houses, sight unseen,” said Sabrina Belleci, a Lake Tahoe broker with Re/Max. “They just want to get out of the city.”

Lake Tahoe has long been a bucolic escape for Californians looking for a getaway and, on the Nevada side, lower taxes. But the latest buying surge is larger than any the market has seen, brokers say. They say tech workers and investors in the Bay Area, as well as media types from Los Angeles, are coming to the Tahoe area in search of larger homes with home offices, more land for the kids to play, and access to outdoor activities such as swimming and bike riding.

What will Sacramento do if their Bay Area cash cow stops producing quite so much milk?