Like many American markets, the Santa Cruz real estate market has suffered its bouts of ups and downs throughout the past couple of years amid the larger financial crisis afflicting the U.S. The government’s stimulus program offering up to $8,000 in tax rebates to select home buyers helped the market regain some of its ground in the latter half of 2009.

Unfortunately some of the ground that was recovered at the end of the year seems to have slipped back in 2010. In January, the average price for a single-family residence sold in the Santa Cruz market was $569,544, down from over $603,000 in December 2009. Similarly, the median price in January was $480,000, down from $555,000 in December.

There were 94 homes sold in January, the first month sales figures fell below 100 since February 2009. The month saw a total inventory of 691 Santa Cruz homes for sale on the market, 208 of which were new. The condo market saw 22 total sales, the lowest figure since March 2009. In January, there were 212 condos on the market, 54 of which were new. Home inventory now sits at just 4.7 months worth, down from 11.9 months a year ago, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Condos and townhomes in the Santa Cruz market saw a drop in prices in January as well. The average price for a sold condo was about $359,000, down from over $378,500 in December 2009. The median price fell from $350,000 in December to just $313,500 in January.