Did that headline get your attention? It sure got mine! Just a few days ago, I was telling some colleagues: “It’s not that bad – while sales in California in June were down around 26%, here in Santa Cruz they were only down 11%.” And that’s about right…but now the July numbers in, and they tell a starker story: sales in Santa Cruz County were down 30% from June of this year…and down about 32% from July of 2005. Yikes! That’s a pretty big drop!
For those of you thinking this is the beginning of the end – you may be right, but, oddly, the median home price continues to march right on upwards. What this indicates to me is that sales of more-expensive homes are stronger than sales of less-expensive homes. Last year, the less-expensive homes were just flying out the door, so to speak – but this year, it’s a tough sell for small homes on small lots.
Readers of my Santa Cruz Market Trends Newsletter will have received this news yesterday – if you want to get the latest market statistics, subscribe to my newsletter or check out the Real Estate Local Report on my website!
Time to talk to a REALTOR?
