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Santa Cruz Real Estate Market Report - Comparing Santa Cruz Home Prices 2008-2009

What a year it has been in Santa Cruz County Real Estate!  I have helped many 1st time buyers get into homes as well as worked with Investors and found some great rental properties.  Santa Cruz County is such a unique area with many small micro communities that have vastly different pricing and attributes.  In this article I will give you an overall look at Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market Statistics comparing 2008 to 2009 to try to see where we are headed for 2010.

First of all everyone wants to know, what are Santa Cruz home prices doing & where are they headed?  Well in 2008 we the median price declined but end of 2009 prices started to climb again.  For example the median home price in December 2007 was $716,500.  In December 2008 it was $455,000.  The median home price in Santa Cruz County right now is about $550,000.  The graph below charts Santa Cruz Median Home Prices from Dec 2007 to Dec 2009:

MEDIAN HOME PRICES, Santa Cruz, CA 2008-2009

 A very good indicator of where Home Prices are heading is the Monthly Supply of Inventory.  This is the amount of months it would take to sell all the homes currently listed for sale in an area.  In general if there is a 6-8 month supply of inventory you can expect prices to be stable.  Over 10 month supply indicates a Buyer's market and under 4 month supply indicates a Seller's market with prices likely to rise.  In December of 2007 there was a 15 month supply of inventory, December 2008 there was a 11.2 month supply and in November 2009 5.6 Months! 

Month Supply of Inventory - Santa Cruz, CA 2008-2009

And finally we have Supply vs. Demand which I'm sure everyone remembers very well from Statistics class :)

Home Supply in Santa Cruz County is down 41% and Demand is up 85% comparing Dec 07 to December 2009!  That is the number of Homes Sold is Up 85% and the number of Homes for Sale is down 41%

Supply vs Demand Santa Cruz County (For Sale vs Sold) 2008-2009

For now, median home prices have begun to rise in Santa Cruz County.  What I have seen this past year in my experience in the field is that the lower end of the market is very busy with multiple offers common.  First time buyers and Investors are driving this demand.   Many of the foreclosures that are coming on the market are under-priced so that the bank can sell them quickly and these are attracting multiple offers.  The sale price is often more than what the bank listed the home for but overall the buyer is still getting a great deal. 

Santa Cruz County is very diverse and all the different neighborhoods and price ranges have their own sub market conditions.  For example: Homes in Santa Cruz County priced over 1 million dollars had a 16.8 month supply of inventory in December 09.  That is down from December 08 when there was a 22 month supply of inventory but it is still moving slowly and we are likely to see more price declines in homes priced over million dollars.  For more detailed information about market trends in a specific neighborhood or price range contact me. 

I expect to see many great buys coming up this year for 1st Time Buyers as well as Investors.   If you would like to recieve up to date and accurate information about new listings in Santa Cruz County including foreclosures please visit here:  Start your Santa Cruz Home Search  or contact me and I will send you the homes best suited to your needs.

Feel free to contact me anytime, I will be happy to speak with you about Santa Cruz Home Prices and help you buy or sell your next home!

 *All Stats and Graphs about Santa Cruz home prices are from Claurus Market Metrics