February 2022

- Tom Brezsny

Part One: Can You Guess What This Home Sold For?

February 28, 2022Can you guess what this home sold for? Can you guess how high above list this fixer-upper went for? Can you guess what somebody paid for this tiny beach bungalow? Sound familiar? Real estate memes are everywhere generating lots of engagement in the form of clicks and page views. Since we all have deep, heartfelt connections to home, it’s easy to trigger collective dopamine rushes with the latest updates about the market. Who can resist taking a wild guess at what the house up the...

- Tom Brezsny

A Steep Rise in Santa Cruz Condo Prices to Start the Year!

February 21, 2022January ushered in an all-time high for the median price of condos by a significant margin. Increasing numbers of buyers are gravitating towards condo/townhome purchases as prices for more preferred single family residences continue to appreciate beyond their reach. There are lots of funny/not so funny observations floating around about how the start of 2022 feels more like the13th or 14th month of 2021 than it does the beginning of a new year, but let’s check the sales data for January and see if we...

- Tom Brezsny

What’s Behind Low Inventory?

February 15, 2022This has been the longest running, highest appreciating, craziest-making “up” market anyone has ever seen. For ten years, a historic low level of supply has held sway and leveraged a remarkable rise in intensity, competition and of course, prices.  In the old days 4-6 months of inventory was considered a balanced market but we haven’t seen anything close to that in a long time.  What’s behind the great shrinking effect that has a stranglehold on supply? Here’s a short list:  Lack of New Homes:  YIMBYS...

- Tom Brezsny

Mo’ Lo Inventory

February 7, 2022Continuing the conversation… about low inventory.  Go to …..  https://www.brezsnyassociates.com/blog  to catch up.   I bet more than a few folks out there are thinking: “Not another column about the low supply of homes!  You’ve been beating us over the head with that for years now and nothing has changed!  Maybe you should move on.  It sounds like a broken record at this point!” My response:  Guilty as charged. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time talking about low inventory.  It’s a broken record (...

- Dax Nollenberger

Dax’s Data: How Areas in Santa Cruz County Compare

February 7, 2022What we know from previous analysis is that the Santa Cruz County real estate market has been on a tear since 2012 when the recovery from the ’08 housing crash solidified itself. What I intend to show is that not all areas in Santa Cruz have experienced the same level of appreciation and growth. Some areas have pulled averages upward while others dragged averages down. I focused specifically on townships within Santa Cruz County with enough of a yearly sample size in homes sold to...