Below are the Santa Cruz County Market Statistics for the month of May ’22. Here are the highlights:
– As expected, Active Inventory hit new highs for the year in May. Active inventory is up 32.8% from the month prior. Historically though, Active inventory is still low.
– The median SFH sales price decreased to $1.31M from $1.41M the month prior. May ’22 median home price is equal to May ’21.
– Number of Sales decreased by 13.3% from April and is down 22% from May ’21.
– Days on market in May ’21 was 20. Days on market in May ’22 was 13.
The stats are out and the feeling that the market is changing is certainly proving itself in the numbers. Increasing interest rates have decreased demand and lowered prices. We have now seen consecutive months of decreasing median home price. That last occurred in Sept-Oct ’21. Average home price, Price per Sq/Ft, and % over Asking Price are also down. This indicates that demand is down fairly significantly. On the supply side, decreasing demand is increasing Active Inventory. Months of inventory, which is an indication of how quickly we’d run out of supply if no more came on the market, is up significantly. This all means there are more options and leverage for buyers and buyers are becoming more selective because of it. Homes that are selling, are selling quickly, 13 Days on Market is the lowest ever. They are still selling for well above the asking price, on average, at 9% over asking price. These reiterate the importance of choosing the right agent that can properly present a home. All these numbers are trailing indicators, meaning that we are basically seeing the results of sales from April that closed in May. With this in mind, expect next month’s numbers to continue the trend of a cooling market.
