Real Estate Santa Cruz – Valtra.org

We are seeing a steady rise of home sales in Santa Cruz County the first quarter of 2012. January closed sales were at 21, February 132, March 245 and April finished with an increased total of 284 closed transactions countywide. Low interest rates continue to drive investors and home buyers sales in the Santa Cruz market place. The total number of new listings on the market is significantly lower than the beginning of the year. January saw 220 new listings, February 199, March 192 and finally April with a decreased inventory of 98 new listings countywide. The average days the homes were in escrow the first quarter also lowered slightly since the first of the year. This possibly resulting in banks having a faster turn-around time in closing short sale listings which were typically taking 3 to 6 months to close in 2011. The average days it took to sell a property beginning in January, 2012 was 101, February was 92, March 93 and April just a few days behind with 88 days to close the average transaction. While sales are up in April, the inventory is significantly less than it was in January.