Santa Cruz - CA housing market
The Santa Cruz metro has a typical home value of $1,148,750, up 4.6% from a year ago. Homes sell in 24 days on average, a balanced market. 25% of listings have had a price cut. Data from Zillow Research, updated monthly.
Santa Cruz housing market, October 2026
The typical Santa Cruz home is worth $1,148,750 as of August 2026, up 0.6% from the prior month, up 1.3% over three months, and up 4.6% from a year ago. Over the past two years values have ranged from $1,097,892 to $1,148,750.
Homes are going pending in about 24 days, slower than the 17 days seen three months earlier. There are roughly 671 homes for sale, 15% fewer than a year ago. 25.1% of listings have taken a price cut (up from 21.4% three months ago).
Typical rent is $3,506 a month, up 3.8% year over year, which puts the price-to-rent ratio at 27.3.
At this week's 7.40% mortgage rate with 20% down ($229,750), the typical Santa Cruz home costs about $7,799 a month including tax and insurance, which needs a household income of roughly $334,200 to stay under a 28% payment-to-income ratio.
Income needed to buy assumes 20% down, a 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.4% (Freddie Mac weekly average), property tax at 1.1% and insurance at 0.4% of value per year, and a 28% payment-to-income cap. Local taxes and insurance vary; treat it as a comparison figure across metros, not a lender's answer. All metros ranked →
How to read this data
The typical home value ($1,148,750) is the Zillow Home Value Index for the Santa Cruz - CA metro area: a smoothed, seasonally adjusted estimate of the typical value for middle-tier homes (33rd to 67th percentile) across single-family and condo properties.
Prices are up 4.6% over the past year. In Santa Cruz - CA, that means a home worth $1,098,231 last year is now worth roughly $1,148,750.
The median sale price, what homes actually close for, is $1,093,554. Homes are selling at 100.0% of list price, meaning buyers are typically paying at or above asking.
Homes listed in Santa Cruz - CA sit on the market for roughly 24 days before going pending. Shorter = seller's market; longer = buyer's market.
About 25.1% of current listings have had at least one price cut. High price-cut shares signal sellers are adjusting expectations downward.
Roughly 201 new listings hit the market each month in Santa Cruz - CA. There are currently 671 homes for sale, down 14.5% from a year ago.
The typical monthly rent in Santa Cruz - CA is $3,506, up 3.8% year over year. On the Rent vs Buy Index that is a price-to-rent ratio of 27.3x, renting territory (#4 of 195 metros). The mortgage on a typical home here, 20% down at today's 7.4% 30-year rate, runs about $6,363 a month in principal and interest, $2,857 more than renting before taxes, insurance and upkeep. The two break even at a 2.24% rate.
What's not on this page
This is market-level data, not property-level. We don't list individual homes for sale. For that, go to Zillow, Redfin, or your local MLS.
Data: Zillow Research (ZHVI and market indicators), refreshed monthly at the source. This page was rebuilt October 2026. Methodology →
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Other metros in CA
| Metro | Home value | 1-yr change | Days on market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles - CA | $952,601 | +1.2% | 24.0d |
| San Francisco - CA | $1,123,193 | +2.3% | 17.0d |
| Riverside - CA | $581,454 | +0.2% | 30.0d |
| San Diego - CA | $930,785 | +0.5% | 22.0d |
| Sacramento - CA | $574,820 | -0.3% | 20.0d |
| San Jose - CA | $1,527,731 | +0.2% | 19.0d |