San Lorenzo Valley home prices, Scotts Valley home prices and Santa Cruz home price changes through August 2017:

PRICES   Feeling like the cooler weather and yellow leaves dancing in the light breezes of fall, average single family home prices across Santa Cruz County seem like they might level off a bit this fall.      The county’s affordable price range, $600,000 and under, is still sizzling like a summer bar-b-que, with multiple buyers pursuing just a handful of homes.     The San Lorenzo Valley has some of the most affordable homes in Santa Cruz County: home prices run about 67% of the county average.

Here’s an example of an affordable San Lorenzo Valley home I sold.   This two bedroom home received three offers, selling for $429,000.     Within the next week I expect to have a larger two bedroom home listed – please call for details.

CURIOUS WHAT YOUR HOME IS WORTH?   Visit www.HomeValues24-7.com  for a quick and easy estimate!    If you’re thinking of selling, I’ll help you evaluate cost effective ways to make your home appeal to the most buyers.    My customized marketing plan is exceptional: contact me to discover why I have so many repeat clients.

LOOKING FOR YOUR DREAM HOME?     Click here!   I’ll help you secure financing, negotiate with the seller, review disclosures and potential red flags, attend inspections with you, and…hand you the keys!

SILICON VALLEY The housing shortage in the Silicon Valley is a systemic problem.    In Santa Clara County, the average price of a single family home in August was $1.4 million, holding steadily over the past year.    Santa Cruz County is a great option when high tech workers look for reasonable housing prices within commute range.    One of my specialties is helping people relocate here!

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY’S APPEAL People from the Silicon Valley are understandably enchanted by Santa Cruz, with our beaches, many parks, smaller cities and towns.     The Santa Cruz lifestyle is less formal with a slower overall pace.   There’s more room to spread out, and consequently lower stress, crime rates and smog.   People tell me they enjoy driving through the mountains to work, rather than sitting in traffic and spending more money to live “over the hill.”

INVENTORY    If you’re considering selling your home – early fall conditions are still ripe!     The market still doesn’t have enough homes for sale in the under $1 million price range.   San Lorenzo Valley has about 70 homes for sale – about 20 more single family homes than at this time last year – but this year, 10 are priced over $1 million, twice as many as last year.

Scotts Valley has about 40 homes for sale, stable, nearly ¾ of which are priced over $1 Million.     Santa Cruz – a far larger city –  has just 40 homes for sale, again, ¾ of which are over $1Million.

DAYS ON THE MARKET Overall, Santa Cruz County homes are on the market about 45-50 days on average before going into escrow with a buyer.   This is about 2 weeks longer than last year.  I think this is because recently, some sellers have been tempted to price their homes too high, but then have to adjust downward after waiting but getting no offers.    Competitively priced and affordable homes are still selling quickly with multiple offers.   Right now, Santa Cruz County has 378 homes for sale (versus 396 around this time last year).

REAL ESTATE MARKETS ARE LOCAL!   The advice of a knowledgeable local REALTOR® who can show you the trends in your neighborhood and your specific kind of property and price range is invaluable.   Different communities and different price ranges don’t move in synch.  The price a buyer should offer, or the price a seller should list their property for, takes not only in-depth research but also field knowledge.   Buyers or sellers should choose their REALTOR® carefully: consider if an agent will have enough time to dedicate to you, in addition to someone who knows the area well and perhaps even lives nearby.

INTEREST RATES    The Federal Reserve met this week;  their meeting minutes say the economy is on track for modest growth with minimal inflation (under 2%).   ¾ of voting officials appeared to be in favor of raising interest rates in December.    30 year home mortgage rates rose ever so slightly to about 4%, depending on personal factors.

Sources:  MLSListings.com (Single Family Residences), Reuters, Inman News, REALTOR.org, ActiveRain.com, Mercury News.     Month to month home sales prices fluctuate widely in small communities and cities, especially where property values can range between multi million dollar properties and fixer upper sales.  Because of this,  percentage and average price changes aren’t statistically meaningful for a static 30 day period.      *All stats as of 9/15/17, MLSListings.com single family residences only.

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