Home sales dip, but new listings rise in January county housing market

New listings of homes for sale in Santa Cruz County jumped noticeably in January compared to December, which could mean both sellers and buyers might be picking up where they left off in the winter after the usual January slow period for real estate.

The number of available homes rose slightly to 274 from 237 in December, a 15% increase, according to the latest data from the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors. Local inventory had dropped consistently over the latter half of 2025, as November was the first month with fewer than 400 homes on the market since March 2025. Although inventory remains on the lower end, it was still about 15% higher than in January 2025.

In January, 57 sales closed, a 45% decrease from December, when there were 105 sales. Prices also dropped across the county, as the median sales price dipped to $1,028,300 from $1,135,500, a 9% decrease.

Properties took much longer to sell than in December, averaging 89 days on the market in January compared to just 50 in December. That reflects less activity and fewer buyers in the market during January, but Sereno Group real estate agent Jennifer Watson predicts that could change in the coming months. 

Watson said Sereno Group colleagues who attended a recent meeting in the San Jose area said the market there is already quite active, with many properties receiving multiple offers. Watson said a general rule of thumb is that Santa Cruz County trails behind the Silicon Valley area by a few months, and the activity there now could spell a busy spring and summer for the Santa Cruz County market.

“Even in the last week, someone was saying in the Bonny Doon area that there were four listings and two of them went in the first week,” she said. “And things that have been sitting on the market since October, all of a sudden, are gone. That seems to be the start of something.”

Watson added that she has seen an uptick in interest in both condos and smaller, single-story homes, and believes it’s because prospective buyers of many ages can make these properties work.

Condos are “appealing because people don’t have to worry about maintenance, and they have elevators, so aging populations can live there too,” she said. “But there are some people that just don’t want to live anywhere with [a homeowners association].”

In addition, Watson said that she thinks the market has reached a “tipping point” with regards to mortgage rates. Homeowners who locked in very low mortgage rates in the pandemic era market were stuck once rates shot back up to a more normal range in the 6% to 7% in recent years. They couldn’t afford to move because it would mean losing those low rates. However, Watson said most of these people have adjusted their expectations and are willing to consider a move again.

Monterey Bay Mortgage advisor Scott Goodrich agreed, saying rates have remained mostly flat for months now, which allows people to be more comfortable with the figures.

“I think 6% is a benchmark we’re getting used to. That’s not to say we couldn’t dip under that if weaker economic news presents itself, or there’s some kind of geopolitical event,” he said. “There are always outlier situations, but it feels like rates are going to stay in this kind of narrow range.”

Goodrich, like Watson, believes that stability will allow prospective buyers to explore the market more freely, which could lead to a busy 2026.

“People know they’re not going to get a 3% rate if they’re moving and need a mortgage, but they’ve seen a huge increase in price appreciation,” he said. “It just feels like this year is going to be stronger than 2025, maybe not by leaps and bounds, but realtors I talk to and work with are optimistic.”

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