Santa Cruz County Home & Community Information

SEABRIGHT HOME VALUES - MARKET REPORT 2011

 Seabright is a great neighborhood in Santa Cruz, CA filled with charming craftsman, victorian, and beach bungalow homes.  People love to live in Seabright and be able to walk to Seabright Beach, Betty's burgers, the Seabright Brewery, Java Junction, La Posta . . .  Seabright is a classic California beach neighborhood. Home values in Seabright have remained fairly strong compared to many other areas over the past few years.

Let's take a look at Seabright, CA home values in 2011:

 There were about 38 homes sold in Seabright in 2011 with an average sale price of $753,000.  The highest priced home home sold in Seabright in 2011 was a 4500 SF oceanview, craftsman style home that sold for $2,660,000, all cash.

The lowest priced home sale in Seabright in 2011 was small, 2 bedroom foreclosure that sold for $360,000 on Frederick St.

Last year about 45% of all home sales in Santa Cruz county were short sales or foreclosures.  In Seabright this rate is much lower.  There were 3 Seabright foreclosure sales and 2 short sales in Seabright in 2011, which means that the percent of distressed home sales in Seabright is only 10%.  That is pretty great compared to the rest of the county and the state. 

Seabright is a highly desireable area.  There are full-time residents, commuters, and vacation home owners.  It is a great place to live and vacation and there is a large buyer pool for this area.

Contact me for more information about home values in Seabright, market trends, homes for sale in Seabright and community information.

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN HOMES FOR SALE WITH LAND - 1 ACRE +

If you are looking for Santa Cruz county homes for sale with land, over 1 acre +, the best places to look are Aptos, Soquel, Corralitos, Scotts Valley, Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo Valley areas.  You can find some wonderful Santa Cruz mountain homes in these areas with room for gardening, horses and more.

The Santa Cruz mountains is a stunning place to live.  Some of these homes with land have distant ocean views and gorgeous mountain views, you can feel like you are in a remote place in Northern California yet be minutes to town and even be able to commute 'over the hill' to San Jose, Silicon Valley areas.

I have had many people call me that work in the San Jose, Silicon Valley that want to buy a Santa Cruz home with land in the Santa Cruz mountains.  They want a retreat home, somewhere to get away from the rat race and really relax.  Santa Cruz mountain homes with land are a wonderful place for that.  There great prices on homes with land right now and Santa Cruz county home prices are usually much less than in the Silicon Valley and you get more home and property for your money.

Buying a Santa Cruz home with land can be a labor of love.  When you have property there is more to maintain and you are usually on a septic and well system.  But nothing feels better than owning your piece of paradise in the Santa Cruz mountains.  

So what type of homes with land do we have in the Santa Cruz mountains?  Really anything you can think of!   We have rustic, early century redwood cabins, Spanish-style villas with infinity pools and ocean views, horse property, vineyards, dome homes, gardner's dream, organic farms . . . we have something for everyone in Santa Cruz county!

Contact me and we can talk about what your dream Santa Cruz mountain home with land looks like!

Santa Cruz Foreclosure Sales - Market Report 2011

We hear alot about foreclosures and bank owned sales all over the country.  But how many foreclosure sales are there in Santa Cruz county?  What percentage of all homes sales are foreclosures in Santa Cruz county?

Looking back at 2011, there were a total of 434 foreclosure sales in Santa Cruz county.  These are single family homes sold through the  MLS (multiple listing service) by banks are REOs or foreclosures.  In  2011, there were a total of 1821 single family homes sold in Santa Cruz.  This means that Santa Cruz county foreclosure sales made up almost 24% of our real estate market.

I am always asked by buyers about how to get a great deal on a foreclosure and if you can really low ball a bank when making an offer.  My answer is, it depends.  If you are an all cash buyer, you do have a better chance of getting a great deal on a Santa Cruz foreclosure.  If the home has a lot of issues, we can sometimes use that to get a big discount.  If there are multiple offers and the bank has underpriced the home in order to sell it quickly, I don't recommend making a low ball offer.

The median price of all Santa Cruz county foreclosures sold in 2011 was $330,000.  The median price of 'regular sales' (not foreclosures or short sales) in Santa Cruz county in 2011 was $565,000.  So you can see that Santa Cruz foreclosure sales are selling for less than regular sales.

I expect to see Santa Cruz foreclosure sales continuing in 2012 and beyond, but with a trend to more short sales than foreclosures or REOs.

Looking to buy a foreclosure?  Go here to see a current list of Santa Cruz County foreclosures for sale

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY HOME VALUES - MARKET REPORT 2011

Looking back at Santa Cruz County Home Values in 2011, the trend has been slightly downward, but not by much compared to the past 3 years.

The median home price for all of Santa Cruz County in 2011 was $465,000. this is down slightly from 2010 when the median home value in Santa Cruz was $520,000 but about the same as 2009 when the median Santa Cruz county home sold for $495,000.

GRAPH OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY HOME VALUES 2009-2011

The number of Santa Cruz home sales is up in 2011, there were a total of 1821 single family home sales in 2011 in all of Santa Cruz County.  In 2010 there were 1598 SFR Santa Cruz county home sales.

Of the 1821 home sales in Santa Cruz County in 2011, 818 were short sales or foreclosures (REOs), which means almost 45% of all home sales in Santa Cruz were distressed sales.  That is a huge portion of our market.  I expect to see more short sales and foreclosures in 2012, but with a trend toward more short sales than foreclosures.  

Overall, more Santa Cruz homes are selling and at a slightly lower price than the previous year.  Santa Cruz home values are getting to be attractive to home buyers and first time home buyers are making up a large percentage of the market.  With the historic low interest rates and great deals on foreclosures and short sales, many people have decided that now is the time to buy.

Contact me for more information about Santa Cruz home values in your neighborhood or city.

SANTA CRUZ USDA LOANS - 100% FINANCING

Santa Cruz USDA loans or United States Department of Agriculture Loans are loans that offer 100% financing to buy a property.  To buy a home with a USDA loan you must meet the income requirements, and not make too much or too little money.  For income limits in Santa Cruz, contact me.

You cannot use a Santa Cruz USDA Loan to buy a home just anywere in county.  USDA loans are for 'rural properties' so buying in the city of Santa Cruz or Watsonville is not an option.  I have seen Santa Cruz USDA loans used in the San Lorenzo Valley (Boulder Creek, Felton) and there are many other 'rural' areas in Santa Cruz county you can use the USDA loan.  You can go here to see a Map of eligilble areas for USDA loans in Santa Cruz

A USDA loan is not just for agricultural properties, you can actually buy a real home in Santa Cruz with a USDA loan, if it is in the designated areas and you qualify. 

Contact me for more information about Santa Cruz USDA loans 100% financing and Santa Cruz First Time Home Buyer Programs.