Santa Cruz housing market: median home price and forecast
Santa Cruz home prices: the Zillow Home Value Index valued a typical Santa Cruz, California home at $1,338,649 in September 2026. That is +5.8% on a year earlier, and sits −3.5% under the $1,386,714 peak of June 2022.
- Typical value of a home
- $1,338,649September 2026, Zillow ZHVI
- Change over 12 months
- +5.8%. measured since September 2025.
Santa Cruz home prices since 2000
Santa Cruz is drawn as the steel line, the United States as the grey line. A typical Santa Cruz home was worth $358,792 in January 2000 and is now worth $1,338,649, ×3.73; across the US the change over the same months was ×2.99. Prices peaked at $798,804 in March 2006 and bottomed out at $529,945 in March 2012, −33.7%.
Santa Cruz median home price, year by year
Each yearly figure averages the twelve monthly values, and 2026 shows the most recent month.
| Year | Santa Cruz | Change on the year | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $388,376 | $125,745 | |
| 2001 | $480,175 | +23.6% | $134,899 |
| 2002 | $511,473 | +6.5% | $144,276 |
| 2003 | $551,728 | +7.9% | $155,308 |
| 2004 | $618,470 | +12.1% | $169,891 |
| 2005 | $738,681 | +19.4% | $189,732 |
| 2006 | $783,133 | +6.0% | $206,531 |
| 2007 | $758,808 | −3.1% | $208,449 |
| 2008 | $692,905 | −8.7% | $195,574 |
| 2009 | $590,555 | −14.8% | $177,542 |
| 2010 | $585,451 | −0.9% | $171,462 |
| 2011 | $547,614 | −6.5% | $162,508 |
| 2012 | $541,889 | −1.0% | $161,137 |
| 2013 | $611,893 | +12.9% | $171,420 |
| 2014 | $675,354 | +10.4% | $182,996 |
| 2015 | $749,152 | +10.9% | $192,738 |
| 2016 | $814,844 | +8.8% | $204,509 |
| 2017 | $871,788 | +7.0% | $216,767 |
| 2018 | $946,801 | +8.6% | $230,541 |
| 2019 | $932,734 | −1.5% | $242,088 |
| 2020 | $950,303 | +1.9% | $257,151 |
| 2021 | $1,135,552 | +19.5% | $295,959 |
| 2022 | $1,320,124 | +16.3% | $340,014 |
| 2023 | $1,254,756 | −5.0% | $348,160 |
| 2024 | $1,290,985 | +2.9% | $359,751 |
| 2025 | $1,270,549 | −1.6% | $362,959 |
| September 2026 | $1,338,649 | +5.8% | $366,157 |
What a Santa Cruz home bought in a given year is worth today
An index-based estimate for the typical home, not an appraisal.
Each year's figure averages its twelve monthly index values; the current value is September 2026. Other options: home appreciation calculator.
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Santa Cruz housing market forecast
In the Santa Cruz, CA metro, Zillow's forecast points to +0.3% over the 12 months that start in September 2026, with −0.3% over the next three months. Start with Santa Cruz's typical home, valued at $1,338,649, and the forecast lands close to $1,342,700 a year on.
What appears here is Zillow's central estimate of the metro, restated; this site does not publish any forecast of its own. Forecasts like this one, over 12 months, have usually been off by several percentage points from the change that actually happened, either way. This is not investment advice.
All metro forecasts in a single table: housing market forecast.
Santa Cruz housing market crash risk score
Moderate, 38 of 100
Santa Cruz is ranked among 292 cities, using five conditions that ran high before earlier falls in price. Against the other cities, every input is ranked from 0 to 100, and the five scores are then averaged with equal weight. It offers a picture of conditions as they are today, and it makes no crash prediction.
| Input | Value | Sub-score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active listings vs 2019 | −9.7% | 29 | 20% |
| How long homes take to sell vs 2019 | −8.6% | 24 | 20% |
| Price-to-rent ratio | 32.6 | 95 | 20% |
| 12-month price change | +5.8% | 3 | 20% |
This is not investment advice. How each input is scored: methodology. Every one of the 292 cities ranked: crash risk by city.
Santa Cruz inventory and days on market
In September 2026 the Santa Cruz, CA metro listed 513 homes for sale, down 7.2% from a year earlier and down 9.7% from the same month of 2019. Selling took 53 days at the median (−8.6% against 2019), and sellers cut prices on 23.6% of listings.
| Santa Cruz, CA metro, September 2026 | Value | On a year |
|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 513 | −7.2% |
| New listings | 206 | |
| Median days on market | 53 | −17.5% |
| Median list price | $1,249,750 | +0.1% |
| Share with a price cut | 23.6% |
Metro inventory from Realtor.com® Economic Research. Realtor.com data. By city: all metro areas, days on market.
Living costs in Santa Cruz
The Zillow Observed Rent Index puts the typical asking rent in Santa Cruz at $3,418 a month, +3.3% on a year. That rent would cover the cost of a typical home in 32.6 years. According to BEA, prices in the metro sit at 109.9 compared with a US average of 100, while housing costs reach 164.3.
Rent, prices, and the salary you need to move to Santa Cruz: cost of living.
Other California housing markets
- Los Angeles market $927,891.
- San Diego market $980,490.
- San Jose market $1,353,869.
- San Francisco market $1,441,021.
- Fresno market $384,885.
- Sacramento market $470,552.
- Long Beach $852,391
- Oakland market $710,647.
- Bakersfield market $385,686.
- Anaheim market $941,684.
For the whole state: California housing market.
How to read this chart
Each point shows the Zillow Home Value Index for Santa Cruz: the worth of a typical home in the market's middle third, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, in that month's dollars. The hollow dot shows the month picked on the slider, and the terracotta dot marks the latest month. Inflation is not adjusted for in these figures, and the index tracks the typical home rather than any one house: use the card above or the home appreciation calculator to value one home from the price it sold for.