What is the housing situation in Santa Cruz County?

63.8% of homes here sold below asking price last month. Summary: A total of 81 homes were sold or pending in Santa Cruz County in January 2024, down by 21.4% month-over-month. Of the 80 sold homes, 64% were sold under asking, 14% were sold at asking, and 23% were sold over asking.

What is the housing crisis in Santa Cruz CA?

The housing crisis in Santa Cruz County and across California is rooted in over 40 years of State and local policies that have failed to produce enough housing to meet the needs of our local families and individuals, resulting in skyrocketing housing costs, scarce housing supplies and high levels of homelessness.

Are home prices dropping in Santa Cruz?

In November 2023, Santa Cruz home prices witnessed a 20.8% drop year-over-year, settling at a median price of $1.2 million. Homes in Santa Cruz typically spend 48 days on the market, mirroring the duration from the previous year.

What is the average cost of housing in Santa Cruz?

Santa Cruz, CA housing market

The median listing home price in Santa Cruz, CA was $1.4M in December 2023, trending down -12.7% year-over-year. The median listing home price per square foot was $943. The median home sold price was $1.2M.

Why is Santa Cruz so expensive?

Elaine Johnson, executive director of Housing Santa Cruz County, says the news that the county is the most expensive rental market in the country isn't a surprise given the imbalance between the area's supply and demand for housing.

November 2023 Santa Cruz County Housing Market update

Is Santa Cruz County expensive to live in?

The most expensive counties are Santa Cruz, Marin, and SF. The high prices mean that workers in jobs like food service, retail, farming, house cleaning, janitorial services, customer service and even assistants cannot afford to live in these large metros without being rent-burdened or overcrowding their homes.

Is Santa Cruz expensive to live?

According to a newly-released annual report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Santa Cruz County is now the most expensive area for renters in the United States. The 2023 Out of Reach Report's list calculated the hourly “housing wage” needed to rent a modest two-bedroom rental home in Santa Cruz.

Is Santa Cruz a nice area to live?

Santa Cruz is in Santa Cruz County and is one of the best places to live in California. Living in Santa Cruz offers residents an urban suburban mix feel and most residents rent their homes. In Santa Cruz there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks.

Is Santa Cruz County the most expensive county?

Santa Cruz County tops the national list, and San Francisco is still second-highest in the country. Santa Clara, Monterey, and Santa Barbara round out the most expensive counties in California. The report ranks California as No. 1 for the most expensive state based on a two-bedroom housing wage.

Will home prices drop in 2023 recession?

With borrowing costs remaining high in the next 12 months, a pull-back in sales and a downward adjustment in home prices are expected in 2023.” Levine added, “Home prices will also moderate further over the next several months as interest rates remain elevated in the near term and seasonal factors come into play.”

How expensive is Santa Cruz CA?

According to the, Out of Reach Report, the fair market rate for a two-bedroom rental in the county is $3,138, meaning residents would need to work four full-time jobs to afford it. And would need to earn an hourly wage of $60.35. This outpaces Silicon Valley, Santa Barbara and New York.

Will home prices drop in a recession?

Do house prices go down in a recession? While the cost of financing a home increases when interest rates are on the rise, home prices themselves may actually decline. “Usually, during a recession or periods of higher interest rates, demand slows and values of homes come down,” says Miller.

Does Santa Cruz California have a homeless problem?

Santa Cruz has about three unsheltered people for every shelter bed. While this limits some of the law enforcement tools Santa Cruz can use, there are ordinances around “nuisance” and parking that the city can and does use to manage people sleeping in public places.

Why is homelessness so bad in Santa Cruz?

Homeless advocates say the winter storms and the end of COVID-19 eviction moratoriums could be a factor. “Those are some of the ideas that are out there for why we could see an increase in families or young children and transitioning to youth, those who are 18 or 24 becoming homeless,” said Stagg.

How bad is homelessness in Santa Cruz?

The statewide homeless count was 181,399 – the largest in the nation. Every January, the federal government conducts a “Point in Time” count of the nation's homeless population. Santa Cruz County was an outlier in 2023's count, with a 21.5% decline reported between February 2022 and 2023, to 1,804 people.

Is Santa Cruz a wealthy town?

Santa Cruz County

The report indicated that the median household income for county residents was $76,367 and the median home value was over $815,000.

What is Santa Cruz minimum wage?

On January 1, 2024, the California minimum wage will increase from $15.50/hour to $16.00/hour pursuant to the California Labor Code. The minimum wage increase affects employees who are below $16.00/hour.

What is a comfortable household salary?

In cities like San Francisco, the cost of living comfortably exponentially increased over the past year, from roughly $74,000 in 2022 to about $84,000 in 2023, Snider says. California cities' elevated cost of living can be explained, in part, by the state's high income, gas and sales taxes.

Why are people moving to Santa Cruz?

Our climate, engaged community, and proximity to the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas make the Santa Cruz area a very desirable place to live. Due to this high demand for homes in our area, the prices of housing is relatively high in Santa Cruz County.

Why is Santa Cruz so popular?

Today, Santa Cruz is known for its beautiful beaches, vibrant downtown area, and rich cultural heritage.

Why do people move to Santa Cruz?

Access to the Bay Area and the Central Coast

While Santa Cruz is a modest city, its location guarantees easy access to some important locations along the California coast. For work, Santa Cruz residents commonly make the 40-minute commute to San Jose along Route 17.

Is Santa Cruz County rural or urban?

It can be divided roughly into four regions: the rugged "north coast"; the urban City of Santa Cruz, Soquel, Capitola, and Aptos; mountainous Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo River Valley; and the fertile "south county", including Watsonville and Corralitos.

What is it like living in Santa Cruz?

Santa Cruz is a charming community close to the ocean. It is a very fun town to ride bikes in, and explore the local farmers markets, beaches and boardwalk. Beautiful and fun place, yet has so many issues with homelessness, safety and sanitation. There needs to be more focus on cleaning up and protecting the community.