Santa Cruz is a place many of us call home or want to once you have been here. It is a place with much beauty, natural and otherwise. With the surf of Santa Cruz steamer's lane or the Pleasure Point surf break, seeing the ocean in action from a surfboard or a sail boat or from shore, evokes pleasure and peacefulness. With the current stock market crash, banking greedfest meltdown, and housing market crash, there is hope for the dreamers.

Many hope to own or live here, and with the prices soft all over, and the media rife with negativity, one gets the notion that maybe they can finally buy a Santa Cruz beach house. So clients call me and think they are going to get a cheap beach pad for half price. You see, in some of the markets they come from, values are cut in half, so their theory makes perfect sense. Problem is, they find Santa Cruz real estate is not like the other areas. When people ask me why things are so expensive, I laugh and say "it's the blue stuff" otherwise our prices would be like yours.

So what is the situation? Yes you can find properties that are a deal for here, but compared to other areas they are still expensive. Foreclosures in Watsonville dominate the sales activity. In the Santa Cruz market they pale in quantity. There are short sales and foreclosures all around, but let me give you a perspective that may put it into plain sense. According to some statistics "The price drop is most dramatic as the growth in foreclosures in the southernmost part of the county continues. One in every 150 homes in Watsonville is in foreclosure, the most in the county, while in Santa Cruz, it's one in every 1,200 homes, the least in the county.To Michael Hutchison, an economics professor at UC Santa Cruz, the market appears divided into two parts, with the lower end declining rapidly while the higher end is firmer."

So what the means is that there is great selection, which is great for a buyer, softer prices, but not flat out price plunges in Santa Cruz proper. While Watsonville, in the southern end of Santa Cruz County, is more on par with what is generally seen in much of the central valley, or some other states. You can see the Santa Cruz foreclosures and short sales in the areas that you may want to look at. With today's lending climate figure you will need at least 20% down payments for most transactions or more as an investor or second home buyer.

There are great deals for this market, but like all markets the deals vary in different price ranges. Santa Cruz real estate has held up better than most stock investments. Now is a great time to purchase a Santa Cruz home. Brokers know the values are good but getting people to get over their fear and take the plunge is difficult. We all understand the fear part, but the reality is that when things look bleakest the values are best.

Santa Cruz real estate or even Rio Del Mar real estate has not fallen as far as the stock market. So go ahead and buy a beach house. Regardless of the value up or down, I guarantee the times and memories you have at the beach with your kids and family will be priceless. Real estate is a 5-10 year investment. Don't worry about this current malaise. You will find in looking back 5 years from now the enjoyment and pleasure you will have had with a Capitola beach condo will be worth more than any stock you owned and pays better mental dividends. Joy and memories are hard to put a price on, whereas a fallen stock brings no joy, a beach home still does. Some come look around and know there are great deals and a good selection, smell the salt air and invest in a Santa Cruz beach house for the memories and returns that are more than just financial.