Santa Cruz County Market Stats
Published
I track Santa Cruz County market conditions every week. The numbers below come from Altos Research for the week ending August 17, 2026, the most current data available.
Data from Altos Research, week ending August 17, 2026. Single-family homes. Sponsored by Padraic Collins, Stewart Title. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Contact me for neighborhood-specific breakdowns.
What the numbers mean
Santa Cruz Median List Price Slips to $1,449,000. Inventory Climbs to 407
The Santa Cruz County median list price is $1,449,000, down $50,000 in a week. That ends a run near $1,499,000 that had held since early June. One reading is not a trend. Watch whether the figure returns to the old band next Monday or keeps easing.
Active single-family inventory is 407, up from 396 and close to the July peak of 411. Supply has built all summer, and buyers now have about 30 more homes to consider than they did at the end of June. Reductions cover 38% of listings, off one point from last week but still above the 33% that ran through June and mid-July. Sellers who set their number against recent sales keep going under contract. The rest are adjusting.
Market Action Index Holds at 38. Sellers Still Have the Edge
The Market Action Index for Santa Cruz County reads 38. Altos counts anything above 30 as a seller’s market and anything below 30 as a buyer’s market. At 38 the county stays on the seller side, level with last month.
The index weighs how quickly homes sell against how many sit listed. Santa Cruz ran at 39 through spring and June, eased to 38 in mid-July, and has held there for five weeks. That is a plateau rather than a turn. A slide toward 30 would mark the point where leverage shifts, and nothing in this week’s reading points that way.
Median Days on Market Steady at 63
Median days on market for active Santa Cruz County listings is 63, unchanged for five weeks and up from 49 in mid-June. The figure covers every home for sale right now, not the ones that already closed.
A house priced to the comps in a good location still goes under contract inside two weeks. What pulls the median to 63 is the long tail of listings that opened too high and have sat since. If a home has been available more than a month with no offer, the asking price is the first thing to review.