Our real estate Web site is dedicated to providing Santa
Cruz home buyers and sellers with pertinent information on current
real estate market trends. We also feature
single-family homes and condominiums
that are for sale in
Santa
Cruz, Aptos,
Capitola,
Scotts Valley,
Los Gatos,
Felton,
Bolder Creek,
and Ben Lomond.
The aftermath of the Fed tax credit, which expired April 30th, won’t
be completely known until the end of June. Although the tax credit
expired at the end of April, when buyers needed to be in escrow,
buyers have until June 30th to close the sale. The effect of the tax
credit was complicated by the new state tax credit which started May
1st. Many buyers delayed escrow so they could take advantage of both
credits, stealing sales from April, down 22.5% year-over-year, and
pushing them into May, where home sales were up 14.4% year-over-year.
Snapshot
of Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market
Pending home sales, goosed by the tax credits,
continued to be near record highs at 349 units. We expect home sales
to be strong in June.
●
The median price for single-family, re-sale homes edged
upward in May by 1.5% from April. It was up 19.1% from
last May. This is the ninth month in a row the median price has been
higher than the year before. .
● Although inventory grew 13.4% from April, it was down 2.5%
year-over-year. This is the twenty-fourth month in a row inventory has
been lower than the year before, putting upward pressure on prices.
●
The Sales price to list price ratio clocked
in at 98.8%, higher than any month since May 2006.
Are We There Yet? If the previous numbers don’t convince you
the real estate market in Santa Cruz County has bottomed out, let’s
look at some other statistics. First, foreclosures levels: they dipped
by 2% in April year-over-year. That's the first annual decrease in
more than five years, according to report issuer RealtyTrac. Second,
shorter marketing time: in May, average days on market was 39. That’s
the shortest time since July 2007. Third, Case-Shiller Home Price
Index: often considered the gold standard for real estate statistics,
the index for the San Francisco Bay Area was up for the eleventh month
in a row, according to their latest statistics reported for March
2010. I expect when they report on April and May, we will see the
index continue rising. .
Santa Cruz Housing Market Summary – The
Santa Cruz County real estate market is very hard to generalize. Not
only do you have many individual, unique cities such as
Santa Cruz,
Aptos,
Capitola,
Scotts Valley,
Los Gatos,
Felton,
Bolder Creek,
and Ben Lomond,
but within each city there are many micro real estate market
such as Santa Cruz' Westside, Eastside, Please Point, Live Oak, East
Cliff, Seabright, Yacht Harbor, and more.
For complete information on a particular neighborhood or property,
please click here or
call me at
(831) 423-SOLD (7653) or (888) 299-7653.
For more information on
Santa Cruz County's real estate market, mortgage rates, and available
homes for sale, download a copy of our latest newsletter.
Click here >> .
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