Santa Cruz Real Estate Market Update: July 2021
What’s happening here in our local Santa Cruz Real Estate Market? Is now a good time to buy or sell a home in Santa Cruz? With all the uncertainty going on. What should we do? Hi, I’m Shemeika Fox, your Santa Cruz Real Estate Expert and I hope to provide you with some clarity.
Check out these current Santa Cruz Real Estate Statistics:
• The median Santa Cruz Single Family home cost $1,175,000 and sold in 9 days for 108% of the list price based on 221 sales in June 2021.
• Santa Cruz Inventory decreased by -2% from May, and down -22% from June 2020 with 335 homes available, compared to 428 homes last year.
• Average days on market (DOM) decreased by -7 days from 20 to 13 or -35%; median DOM dropped by -1 day from the month before.
• Number of new Santa Cruz home listings for the month of June decreased -19% over May and is up 9% from June of last year.
• Closed Santa Cruz home sales rose 11% from May from 200 to 221 homes sold. This is up 18% from June 2020.
As you can see from the Santa Cruz Real Estate Statistics, we are still considered to be in a seller’s market. The way in which the the market is analyzed is based on the absorption rate. The absorption rate in the real estate market is used to evaluate the rate at which available homes are sold in a specific market during a given period of time. It’s calculated by dividing the number of homes sold in the allotted time period by the total number of homes available.
The absorption rate in Santa Cruz is currently 65 days. This means if we did not add any more new Real Estate inventory to the Santa Cruz Real Estate Market, we would sell out of available properties in 65 days. Experts believe that anything less than a six month inventory level would be considered a seller’s market and anything over that would be considered a buyers market. So as you can see, Santa Cruz County is still considered a very hot seller’s market.
Now the big question… will Santa CruzReal Estate inventory go up soon? Will we experience another housing bubble like 2008? We know it feels like the wild, wild west out here when trying to buy a home in Santa Cruz right now. Ivy Zelman from the Z Report says, “This month our broker contacts report a continuation of robust demand and intense competition from buyers to ‘win’ houses – with bidding wars, all-cash offers, waived contingencies and rent-free leasebacks increasingly common in many markets”. So much is happening across the country in real estate right now, but the biggest story certainly is the lack of available inventory causing this fast paced and expensive market – they call it “robust demand, intense competition.”
We are still seeing bidding wars here in Santa Cruz County. And we still do not have enough sellers in today’s market. This intense competition is causing buyers fatigue for those that keep getting outbid, usually by all cash offers.
Soaring prices of lumber has slowed construction down across the nation as well. You can’t turn on the TV without hearing about rising costs of lumber. Robert Dietz of the National Association of Homebuilders says, “The decline in single family permits indicates that builders are slowing construction activity as costs rise. While housing starts were strong at the beginning of the year due to the home builder constructing homes that were sold pre-construction, higher costs and limited availability of building materials have now paused some projects.” This is hurting the supply out there while the demand still remains high. We don’t want this to discourage you from going out and buying a home this summer. Home ownership is very important. It gives you the ability to build equity, as well as many other non-financial benefits. Gallup’s polls show that 41% of Americans still believe that Real Estate is the best long term investment.
If you’re thinking about buying a Santa Cruz home or if you’re considering selling your Santa Cruz home, please feel free to reach out to us for a complimentary, confidential consultation. Im Shemeika Fox, your Santa Cruz Real Estate Expert and as always, I am here to help!
There are many Santa Cruz Real Estate agents out there that you can work with. However, not every agent will advocate for you the way Fox Realty Group does. Real estate is our passion and it shows in all we do. Our service goes above and beyond that of other agents. We will handle every last detail, tirelessly working to find the right buyer for your property in the Santa Cruz area. Whether you need to sell a water view home, beach bungalow, or you are an absentee owner, our team will work with you to provide the greatest selling experience possible! Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can creatively market your home!
