What the Santa Cruz price trend shows
The two main price measures point in slightly different directions, so read them side by side rather than mixing them. Zillow's typical home value for the City of Santa Cruz was $1,338,649 in September 2026, up 5.8% on a year earlier. That figure is a smoothed estimate of the middle of all homes, sold or not. Redfin's median sale price for homes that actually closed in the three months to September 30, 2026 was $1,350,357, down 0.9% from the same period a year before. A median of actual sales moves with the mix of homes that happened to sell, so a quarter with fewer large west side houses can pull it down while values hold.
Over longer periods Zillow's series shows steady but slower growth than the 2010s. The typical value is up 12.9% over five years and 64.1% over ten. It peaked at $1,386,714 in June 2022 and still sits about 3.5% below that peak, so Santa Cruz has not fully recovered the 2022 high even after this year's gain.
Santa Cruz rents are rising more slowly than values
Zillow's observed rent for Santa Cruz was $3,418 a month in September 2026, up 3.3% in a year and 20.5% over five years. Rent hit its own high of $3,464 in June 2026, which matches the usual summer and early fall lease cycle around the UC Santa Cruz school year. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey puts 51.6% of the city's occupied homes in renter hands, higher than the county's 40.1%, so rental demand matters more here than in most of the county.
How the county compares
Across all of Santa Cruz County, Redfin's median sale price for September 2026 alone was $1,074,595, 7.6% lower than September 2025. Treat that single month as provisional. It covers 160 sales and includes Watsonville, where Redfin's three-month median was $669,431, so it sits well below the city figure. Monterey County's September median was $896,494 and Santa Clara County's was $1,568,490, which places Santa Cruz between its two neighbors on price.
Sale speed, price cuts and inventory in Santa Cruz
How fast Santa Cruz homes sell
Homes in the city sold in a median of 17 days in the three months to September 2026, according to Redfin, and 45.1% went under contract within two weeks. The average home sold for 100.8% of its list price, and 35.5% sold above list. Those are faster numbers than the county as a whole, where September's median was 33 days and the average sale reached 98.8% of list.
Price cuts across the Santa Cruz metro
Zillow tracks price cuts at the metro level. In September 2026, 27.5% of listings in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro had a price cut, up from 26.4% a year earlier and 19.7% in March 2026. That is a normal seasonal rise as fall listings sit longer, but it means a quarter of sellers are adjusting their first price. Zillow's mean time from listing to pending for the metro was 53 days in September, down from 61 a year before.
Santa Cruz inventory and supply
Redfin counted 80 homes for sale in the city at the end of the period, 35.3% more than a year earlier, against 77 sales over three months. That works out to 3.2 months of supply. Countywide, active listings reached 542 in September 2026, up 7.3% on the year, with 3.4 months of supply. Anything under about four months still leans toward sellers, though less than it did when supply sat near two months in December 2025.
Santa Cruz home prices by ZIP code
The city spans four ZIP codes. The table uses Redfin's rolling three-month figures to September 30, 2026 for sales and Zillow's September 2026 typical value as a separate column. Do not compare the two columns directly: one is a sale median, the other a value estimate.
| ZIP | Redfin median sale price (3 months) | Change vs year earlier | Median days on market | Sales | Zillow typical value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95060 | $1,467,569 | +5.0% | 18 | 71 | $1,372,773 |
| 95062 | $1,397,589 | -14.0% | 30 | 66 | $1,311,215 |
| 95065 | $1,292,120 | +8.6% | 33 | 14 | $1,332,909 |
| 95064 | Too few sales | n/a | n/a | n/a | $680,890 |
95060: the west side and downtown
95060 is the busiest ZIP, with 71 sales in three months. Its homes sold fastest, in a median of 18 days, and at 100.8% of list on average; 38.5% went over asking. Single-family houses in 95060 had a Redfin median of $1,680,826 on 55 sales. Zillow's typical value rose 6.3% over the year. See the 95060 data page for the monthly history.
95062: the east side toward Live Oak
95062's 14.0% drop in the Redfin median reflects a weaker mix of house sales rather than a collapse in value: Zillow's typical value for the ZIP rose 5.6% over the same year. Houses there had a three-month median of $1,524,615 on 47 sales, and the price per square foot was the highest of the city ZIPs at $911.
95065: the northeast hills
95065 is small, with only 14 sales in the period, so its numbers swing. Redfin's median rose 8.6% to $1,292,120 and Zillow's value rose 4.8%. The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 survey shows 71.7% of homes in the ZIP are owner-occupied, the highest share of the city ZIPs.
95064: the UC Santa Cruz campus
Zillow's typical value of $680,890 for 95064 covers very few privately owned homes and rose 10.0% over the year. Redfin reports too few sales to give a median. Treat it as a curiosity rather than a guide to buying near campus.
Condos, houses, luxury and new homes in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz houses vs condos and townhouses
Redfin's ZIP figures split by property type. In 95060, condos had a three-month median of $770,977 and townhouses $817,501, against $1,680,826 for houses. In 95062, condos sold at a median of $631,981 and townhouses at $929,001. Countywide in September 2026, the condo median was $591,961, down 20.0% on a small sample of 14 sales, and condo supply stood at 4.6 months, looser than houses or townhouses. If you are comparing condos, our Santa Cruz condos page covers HOA reserves and the balcony inspection law.
The upper end of the Santa Cruz market
Redfin's three-month figures for unincorporated places at the edge of the city show where prices run highest: Pleasure Point's median was $3,048,548 on 7 sales and Pasatiempo's $2,823,655 on 3 sales. Samples that small can double or halve from one quarter to the next, so ask an agent for the actual comparable sales before pricing a high-end home.
New construction in Santa Cruz
Most new homes in the city are rental apartments downtown, and very few new houses are built for sale inside city limits. Our new homes in Santa Cruz page lists the projects the city has approved and the for-sale communities nearby.
Is now a good time to buy a home in Santa Cruz?
It depends on how long you plan to stay and what the monthly payment does to your budget. Three numbers matter now. First, supply is up: 80 homes for sale in the city against 59 a year earlier by Redfin's count. Second, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.24% in Freddie Mac's survey for the week of October 29, 2026. Third, a quarter of metro listings have cut their price.
At those rates, buying a home at Zillow's typical value of $1,338,649 with 20% down means a loan of about $1,070,919 and principal and interest of about $7,298 a month. Add property tax at 1.128718%, the 2026-27 rate for tax rate area 01-003 in the county's tax rate book, and the total is about $8,557 a month before insurance. Spending no more than 30% of gross income on that would need roughly $342,000 a year. Our Santa Cruz cost of living page covers the other costs.
Buyers have more room in the slower segments: condos, 95062 houses and homes in the county's quieter months, when Redfin's county median days on market has run from 45 to 55. In 95060, expect competition, since more than a third of homes still sell over asking.
Is now a good time to sell a home in Santa Cruz?
Sellers in the city still hold an edge. A 17-day median sale time and an average sale at 100.8% of list are strong numbers by California standards. The risk is pricing: with 27.5% of metro listings cutting their price, a home listed above recent comparable sales is likely to sit, and homes that sit in Santa Cruz in November and December face a thinner buyer pool. Spring is the busiest season in the county data: new listings rose from 140 in January 2026 to 263 in May, and the median days on market fell to 16 in May.
If you bought before 2016, Zillow's series suggests your home has gained more than 60% in value, so capital gains tax planning matters; see our guide to capital gains on a California home sale. Santa Cruz County's documentary transfer tax and any city transfer tax are covered in our California transfer tax guide.
Santa Cruz housing market outlook
We do not make our own forecast. Zillow's forecast for the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro, published with its September 2026 data, expects home values to change by +0.1% by October 2026, -0.3% by December 2026 and +0.3% by September 2027. In plain terms, Zillow expects prices to hold roughly flat for the next year.
Two local factors could move prices either way. Downtown Santa Cruz is adding several hundred rental apartments, including the 175-home RiverRow building at 414 Front Street, which opened in March 2026; more rentals could slow rent growth over time. And mortgage rates above 7% keep many owners from selling, which limits supply. Watch the city's months of supply: a rise above four would be the first sign that buyers are gaining ground. Our California housing market guide puts these numbers in a statewide context.