A Daily Shot of News

Like so many other markets across the country and particularly in the state of California, which has been especially hard-hit by the fluctuations in the national housing market, the Santa Cruz real estate market has seen vast devaluations in homes and condos throughout the past couple of years as the bubble burst on the seemingly endless rise in home prices. Average and median prices have plunged from their peaks, inventory has piled up and many homeowners have been forced into foreclosure by ballooning mortgage payments and rising unemployment.

However, not all news is bad news concerning Santa Cruz homes and condos. In fact, according to statistics from the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors, the end of 2009 saw the average price for a single-family residence hit its highest point since September of 2008: In November 2009, the average price for a single-family home in Santa Cruz County was more than $620,000 (although it fell back to just over $603,000 in December). Median prices showed stark improvement as well: the median price for a single-family home in December was $555,000, also the highest monthly figure since August 2008. Single-family homes inventory began to thin out toward the end of the year as well, with December finding just 631 homes on the market, the lowest level in more than two years.

Condo prices saw a resurgence toward the end of the year as well, with the average price for a condo in December 2008 at its highest point in five months, at over $378,500. The median price at the end of the year also maintained one of the higher monthly levels for 2009. The inventory of condos and townhomes showed signs for optimism as well, with the number still on the market in December 2009 at fewer than 200, the lowest level in more than two years.

The city of Santa Cruz saw the most sales volume of any town or city in Santa Cruz County in December 2009, with sales volume at more than $21 million. The city’s median sales price in December was at $578,000 for single-family homes, while the average price was more than $660,000. The Seacliff neighborhood had the highest median sales price in December of any Santa Cruz neighborhood, at more than $1.13 million, while Adult Village saw the lowest median price of $227,000. Most of the inventory still on the market in the Santa Cruz area is in the San Lorenzo Valley and Santa Cruz proper areas, followed by East Santa Cruz County and Scotts Valley.