Santa Cruz - Seasonal Cost Differences for Rentals? (Tiburon, Belvedere: how much, college)

[Susan1214]

Hi All,

I'm a Bay Area native, and I knew Santa Cruz and the surrounding mountains were expensive (high $ for small sq ft) but I had no idea it was quite this bad. I've been looking at postings on Craig's List for 250 sq ft shacks out in the mountains in gulches as dark as night under the trees all day long, and the cheapest I could find was $900 a month. I remember looking at rentals two years ago during the winter and it wasn't nearly this bad. Was that due to the recession, or are prices for rentals listed at a higher rate in the summer vs the winter, since no one wants to move in the winter? Again, I live in Marin and know how much these things can cost, but I didn't realize the S. Cruz mountains were more expensive for small rentals than Belvedere or Tiburon, which are some of the most expensive towns in the entire Bay Area. Then again, I suppose part of the reason could be that I'm competing with college students in Santa Cruz whereas Marin has no state college.