I think you are overestimating sales in rural areas and the number of houses. Here’s an article from Vermont where housing prices have soared during the pandemic and there’s a market shortage.
>The tax department logged 3,795 sales to out-of-state buyers in 2020, compared to 2,750 in 2019. That represents about 27 percent of all residential sales in 2020, according to Deputy Tax Commissioner Rebecca Sameroff.
>The value of that real estate increased even more: $1.43 billion in residential real estate was sold to out-of-staters in 2020, a 79% increase over the $799 million sold the year before.
135,000 Californians could consume the real estate market of Vermont many times over.
https://vtdigger.org/2021/04/19/home-sales-to-out-of-state-b...
>The tax department logged 3,795 sales to out-of-state buyers in 2020, compared to 2,750 in 2019. That represents about 27 percent of all residential sales in 2020, according to Deputy Tax Commissioner Rebecca Sameroff.
>The value of that real estate increased even more: $1.43 billion in residential real estate was sold to out-of-staters in 2020, a 79% increase over the $799 million sold the year before.
135,000 Californians could consume the real estate market of Vermont many times over.