The large clusters of brightly colored "for sale" signs are evidences of a cooling trend in the housing market and are popping up at several street corners.

These real estate signs are staying up longer, and new ones are being planted next to them, creating what some people in the unincorporated parts of Mid-County call "visual pollution."

Supervisor Ellen Pirie, whose district includes much of Mid-County, said that it looks like all of Rio del Mar is for sale.

The county Department of Public Works wrote a letter to the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors warning it that it was violating rules for commercial real estate signs within the county road right of way earlier this month.

According to Thomas Bolich, director of public works, some of the association's 1,700 members are not placing signs in designated areas. The Realtors association has a valid encroachment permit for the installation of signs by members, which is a requirement of the county. While the abundance of signs doesn't look good, they say the changing housing market demands aggressive tactics.

City Attorney John Barisone said that in the city of Santa Cruz, no commercial signs are allowed in the public right of way. The real estate sign ordinance is similar in Capitola.

By M. Sese
http://realestatepress.org