February 2022: There were 20 sales of condominiums and townhouses in January, down 40% from 33 sales in February 2021. Compare 19 active listings to 20 closed sales in January, and the intense supply and demand relationship is clear.
There were no bank-owned or short sales in January.
BACKGROUND: The number of sales is seasonal. Each year, January and February have the fewest number sales, because people are usually too busy to shop for homes during November and December. The highest number of sales is in June or July, because more buyers shop for homes in the summer. Note this repeating annual pattern in the above graph.
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.
A >sale’, in this context, means a close of escrow. July sales mean properties that closed escrow in July, but probably went under contract in May or June.