News Flash: The Real Estate Market in Santa Cruz has NOT crashed. The October data is in for the Santa Cruz County housing market and there are two items that stand out. Prices are up and the number of homes for sale is still very low. In fact, the median price for October was $1,350,000 up from $1,200,000 for the previous month and up quite a bit from the same time last year ($1,120,000).
One factor keeping prices up is historically low inventory. There just are not many choices for buyers. Although the sharp rise in interest rates has created downward pressure on prices due to reduced demand from buyers, the lack of inventory creates upward pressure on prices for the limited number of homes that are for sale. The counteracting forces are somewhat leveling prices out. Also notable was a better than expected inflation report which caused a reduction in interest rates.