Scotts Valley real estate market

The Scotts Valley real estate market, part of the larger Silicon Valley and Santa Clara housing markets, faced signs of recovery along with the larger economy of the region. According to May 24, 2010 article in the Mercury News, “Santa Clara County saw fewer single-family homes sold in April compared to a year ago, but the median price rebounded from $420,000 to $553,000, the highest in 20 months, as distress sales dipped.” The piece, written by Jondi Gumz, went on to state that “Two years ago, the midpoint of what sold was $661,100. There were 121 sales in April, with 43 percent selling for under $500,000, compared to a year ago, when 132 homes sold with 57 percent under $500,000, according to Gary Gangnes of Real Options Realty, who tracks the numbers. Last month saw 33 bank-owned sales and 17 ‘short sales,’ where the home is sold for less than the debt…”

The overall economic picture of the Scotts Valley Region, along with the rest of Santa Cruz, stabilized significantly in the latest forecast. According to a May 27, 2010 article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “Santa Cruz County lost 5 percent of its jobs over the past two years, but it would have been worse without the steadying effect of agriculture. That’s the assessment of Jeffrey Michael, who heads the business forecasting center at the University of the Pacific…” The piece, written by Jondi Gumz, went on to state that “Santa Cruz is closely tied with Silicon Valley, which is seeing the strongest early recovery. The ag sector, which added jobs, has been a buffer; without it, the county’s job loss would have been 7 percent.”

The effect of foreclosures on Scotts Valley homes for sale has begun to shift towards more affluent regions, according to a June 1, 2010 piece from the San Francisco Chronicle. The article, written by Carolyn Said, said that “Foreclosures are going upscale across the Bay Area. Nearly 1,000 homes valued above $730,000 were repossessed by banks in the nine-county region in each of the past two years, according to a Chronicle review of public records compiled by MDA DataQuick, a San Diego research firm.”

Capitola Real Estate

Capitola, located in Santa Cruz County in California, has, like so many regions in the Golden State, seen its real estate market take a wild ride since the sector crashed near the end of 2008, with foreclosures rising to all-time highs, prices plummeting and many homeowners finding themselves owing more on their homes than they are now estimated to be worth.

At the end of 2009, according to statistics compiled by the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors, there were five sales in Capitola, up from four sales in November and just two sales a year ago. Because the Capitola real estate is a rather small market, statistics must be closely examined, as they can wildly fluctuate month to month with the sale of one or two low- or high-priced outliers.

At the end of 2009, there were 15 Capitola homes for sale still on the market, down by nearly half from the end of 2008, when it stood at 28 homes. In December, there were two new listings brought to market in Capitola, down from five a year ago. At the end of 2009, homes were spending an average of 176 days on the market before selling, the third-highest average in Santa Cruz. This figure represents a rise from December 2008, when the average days on the market was just 57 days.

One shining spot in the Capitola market is an increase in general in sales prices, which is in contrast to most other area markets. In December 2009, the median sales price for a home in Capitola was $727,000, up from just $617,500 one year ago and from $637,000 in November 2009. Average prices show similar trends. In December 2009, the average price was $812,400, up from $617,500 from the same month of 2008. The median sales price for Capitola condos in December was $309,500. In December 2008, it was $337,000, though that figure was based on just a single sale, whereas December 2009’s figure was based on four sales.