February 2022: The average sales price for condominiums and townhouses in January was $920,905. The average price for condominiums and townhouses is generally less consistent because of the relatively smaller number of sales.
BACKGROUND: The condo/townhouse graphs do not show as smooth a transition from month to month as the house graphs. This is because there are far fewer condo and townhouse sales in Santa Cruz County than house sales. In the field of statistics, a larger quantity of numbers makes a better statistic. Here, we are working with very few numbers (25 to 75 sales per month). Occasionally, a few very expensive condominiums sell in the same month, and the graph takes a jump up in that month.
People who keep statistics argue whether the median price or the average price is a better indicator. The average price is calculated by totaling the sales prices and dividing by the number of sales. The median price is that price where an equal number of sales occurred at a higher price and a lower price than the median.