The Santa Cruz county real estate market continues to show remarkable strength. The median price for Santa Cruz county jumped to a new high of $920,5000 in March. This spike in prices appears to be the result of Silicon Valley workers seeking lower home prices and a better lifestyle in Santa Cruz. So how is the Aptos real estate market doing? Let’s look at the numbers in this Aptos Q1 2018 real estate wrap-up.
Here’s a quick break-down of the single-family home data:
- 55 sales (-5.2% vs. 58 a year ago)
- $885,000 median (-13.7% vs. $1,025,000 a year ago)
- 50 Days on Market average (-19.4% vs. 62 a year ago)
- $607/sf average (+6.1% vs. $572 a year ago)
- 88 new listings (+22.2% vs. 72 a year ago)
Now let’s look at the market for condos and townhouses:
- 23 Sales (+35.3% vs. 17 a year ago)
- $700,000 median price (+8.4% vs. $646,000 a year ago)
- 25 Days on Market average (-43.1% vs. 44 a year ago)
- $535/sf average (+12.9% vs. $474/sf a year ago)
- 29 new listings (unchanged from a year ago)
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A Closer Look
The 13.7% drop in median home price is alarming – but at the same time, the average price per square foot is up 6.1% in the same period. Smaller houses usually have a higher sale price per square foot than larger houses (since so much of the value of the real estate is in the land, rather than in the structure). In fact, the average home sold in Aptos in Q1 2018 had 1,963 square feet on average, vs. 2,350sf on average in Q1 2017.
Overall, the Aptos market does appear to be stable, with prices rising gradually compared to last year. There’s mixed news for home owners thinking about selling: homes are selling more quickly this year compared to last, but there’s significantly more competition in the Aptos market, with a lot more inventory this year compared to last.
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