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Digital News Report – Although home prices have dropped 40% over the last four years, rents have not.
Santa Cruz is one of the most expensive places to live. The National Low Income Housing Coalition calls the county one of the most out of reach areas in the United States.
The coalition measured the affordability of one, two, three and four bedroom rentals to determine what they call Fair Market Rent (FMR). It is generally accepted that residents should not pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing costs. They determined what an hourly-wage worker would need to earn to afford a two bedroom home.
Both Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz / Watsonville metropolitan areas were very expensive. The top five most expensive counties were in California. Only Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties were more expensive than Santa Cruz. Santa Clara County ranked number five and Honolulu ranked six.
When it came to metropolitan areas, Santa Cruz-Watsonville ranked number three. The San Francisco metro area was number one, followed by Stanford-Norwalk Connecticut.
See the details of their research here.
By Mark Williams