Santa Cruz Real Estate Market

As of June 2026, the median home listed in Santa Cruz, CA asks $1.29M — down 0.2% from a year ago. Homes are taking a median of 48 days to go under contract, and 16% of the 468 active listings have taken a price cut, which points to a balanced market. Figures cover the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area. Based on public records and industry data, updated monthly.

Santa Cruz scores 52/100 on our composite Investor Score (#414 of 932 covered metros), a percentile blend of momentum, value, rental yield, supply and market-heat readings; the metro's long-run house price index has it up 27% over five years and +58% over ten, leaving prices 26% above its own 2000–2019 trend; at the published FY2026 fair market rent of $4,214/mo for a two-bedroom, the gross rental yield on the median listing is about 3.9%; active inventory sits at 91% of its June 2019 level, so supply is still below pre-pandemic norms; listing prices are down 0.2% year over year; all against a national 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.43% (national weekly average, 2026-07-02).