California News Blog

The Santa Cruz real estate market seems to be in a bit of trouble, considering an unpleasant combination of decreasing property values and an overall bad economy. Even efforts at relief by the federal government seem to be falling flat, according to a November 7, 2009 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. According to the article by Jondi Gumz, “The housing bubble that pushed prices above $700,000 in Santa Cruz County appears to preclude most local borrowers from taking advantage of a new program designed to help borrowers on the foreclosure stay in their homes…In Santa Cruz County, 30 to 40 borrowers a week are getting notices of default for failure to pay – 1,764 so far this year, according to the Santa Cruz Record…Figures for Santa Cruz County are comparable. The median price for a single-family home topped $700,000 for a three-year stretch starting in 2005, and median rent in the last quarter was the most expensive rent in the state at $1,569 a month.”

Santa Cruz homes for sale are facing decreased property values recently, according to a November 12, 2009 article released in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The piece noted that “In 2005, when the project was on the drawing board, the housing market was hot. A 3-bedroom 2 1/2-bath townhome might have fetched $700,000 then but now asking prices for two of the units are $430,000 and $450,000. The downturn has created upheaval for everyone involved in the Doyle Street project, from the developers to the tenants, the lenders and the tradespeople who worked on the project… ‘I was so proud of the that project,’ said Judith Miller, a Corralitos real estate broker who built the development with her husband, Wayne, an architect. ‘It’s a horrible situation. The value is gone. You can’t get a non-owner-occupied loan without equity.’”

A larger scale problem for real estate in Santa Cruz was reported by a November 24, 2009 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. According to the piece by Kurtis Alexander, “One in five county residents have moved in temporarily with friends or family. One in five are without health insurance. And nearly a quarter are no longer saving money. The sobering figures come with the new Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project…”