Santa Cruz homes for sale
Image by To Save On Postage via Flickr
The Santa Cruz real estate market is one of the most expensive rental markets in the United States despite continually plummeting housing prices. Although the average price of a single family home in Capitola has declined by more than forty percent in recent months, Santa Cruz rentals continue to be the third most expensive in the entire nation. The Santa Cruz market depends heavily on nationwide economic trends, as well as the economic status of the surrounding region. Unfortunately, the national real estate market is no longer benefitting from the federal housing tax credit, which had the effect of artificially inflating the volume of home sales last year. Within Santa Cruz County itself, the unemployment rate remained well above the national average at approximately 14.7 percent as of May 2011. The private sector has had difficulty recovering from the recession, and the largest employer in the region remains the government. Many local businesses have also had difficulty securing loans in recent months, as banks remain hesitant to extend lines of credit to potential investors and developers.
Santa Cruz homes for sale sectors are unlikely to recover at a rapid pace, due to high unemployment and high vacancy rates in both offices and industrial parks. Twelve and a half percent of offices in Santa Cruz County are currently vacant, representing a decrease of just over one half of a percent from last year but a slight increase from the last quarter of 2010, which saw a vacancy rate of 12.3%. Similarly, industrial vacancies are currently at 5.6%, about the same level as last year but an increase of nearly one half of one percent from the final quarter of 2010. Unfortunately, Santa Cruz County has not experienced the same rapid drop in vacancy as many communities in the Silicon Valley, which have benefitted from a recent surge in tech investment and growth.
