Aptos Real Estate

Aptos Community News provides a monthly Aptos Real Estate Market Update, provided by Real Estate Broker and noted Realtor Sebastian "Seb" Frey. These monthly reports always include a video component, and feature a full set of Aptos real estate sales data for both single family homes and condominiums and townhouses. In addition, we routinely publish articles about real estate developments and topics of interest to both current and prospective Aptos real estate owners. There is no better place on the Internet to find timely, insightful information and opinion on Aptos real estate than AptosCommunityNews.org!

Housing Solutions Initiative Community Meeting in Aptos

April 7, 2018 by Seb Frey

Make Affordable Housing in Santa Cruz County a Reality

It’s no secret that we have a housing crisis in Aptos and in Santa Cruz. To begin to address the issue, the Santa Cruz Housing Solutions Initiative has been created. The Housing Solutions Initiative aims to provide affordable housing for local workers and vulnerable populations through a bond measure of up to $250 million, proposed for passage by voters in the fall. On Wednesday, April 11th, 2018 at 5:30 PM there will be a community meeting of the Housing Solutions Initiative at Twin Lakes Church.

The planned bond measure would provide investment in affordable housing through four distinct funds:

Affordable Rental Housing Development Fund to create and preserve affordable rental housing by funding land acquisition and development costs.
Home Ownership Fund to facilitate first-time home ownership and help vulnerable homeowners keep their homes.
Homelessness Fund to support permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and emergency services facilities.
Innovation & Opportunity Fund to make it possible to respond quickly to opportunities to preserve and expand affordable rental housing and/or prevent tenant displacement.

Supervisor Zach Friend and Capitola Mayor Michael Termini will host this community meeting. Learn more about the proposal, and share your thoughts and experiences.

Remarks will start at 6 p.m.

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Aptos Q1 2018 Real Estate Wrap-Up

April 3, 2018 by Seb Frey

316 Doris (4 BR, 2 BA, 2,137sf) sold for $885,000 after 121 DOM

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)

What's YOUR Aptos House Value?

Aptos Home Prices — Find YOUR Home's Value!

Interested to know what your Aptos house is worth in today's real estate market? Then head over to SellForSure.com for an instant, on-line evaluation of your Aptos home's value.

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.

Read a good book lately?

Thoughts on the Santa Cruz YIMBY Meeting

March 29, 2018 by Seb Frey

On March 28th, the Santa Cruz YIMBYs (“Yes in My Back Yard”) held a public meeting at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz to discuss the urgent need for more affordable housing in the city and county of Santa Cruz. The meeting featured a discussion on the state of California housing by Linda Wheaton, assistant director for the California Department of Housing and Community Development. A panel discussion followed Wheaton’s presentation, moderated by Robert Singleton of the Santa Cruz County Business Council.

Jondi Gumz of the Santa Cruz Sentinel was there and she did a great write-up on the meeting, so I don’t need to go into too much detail about who said what. I did record audio of the entire proceedings, which you can listen to and download here:

Download the audio….

As the Sentinel did such a good job going over the particulars of the meeting, I’ll just add some of my thoughts on what was discussed.

Although Linda Wheaton went through a fairly exhaustive list of recent and proposed California housing legislation, she made no mention of the most radical bill making its way through the legislature: SB-827, sponsored by Scott Weiner of San Francisco. This was touched on in the panel discussion, but it was disappointing that it was not more of a focus by Wheaton or the panelists.

The Q&A session for the panelists was moderated by Singleton of the Business Council, who asked the panelists questions from a prepared list. There was little time remaining for questions from the audience; just three audience members were called on.

What's YOUR Aptos House Value?

Interested to know what your Aptos house is worth in today's real estate market? Then head over to SellForSure.com for an instant, on-line evaluation of your Aptos home's value.

One question from the audience was especially poignant: would not more housing lead to destruction of so much of what makes Santa Cruz such a beautiful, special place to live? I think that many folks feel that way: more housing = less green and open space. After all, who hasn’t heard about all the fruit orchards and farms which used to cover the Santa Clara valley, which were covered over with concrete, asphalt, and tract homes a few short decades ago?

Panelist Sibley Simon was quick to shut that notion down, however. As he pointed out, that’s been settled a long time ago in Santa Cruz. We’re keeping our green, open spaces. More housing does not mean more sprawl, such as we see in Santa Clara county and much of southern California. More housing – and more affordable housing – means denser, infill development (such as would be required with SB-827).

Another concern people have when they hear “more housing” is “more traffic.” As Simon pointed out, the key to reducing traffic is to having housing built closer to where the jobs are. Currently, many of those jobs are in Santa Clara county, but with wise, far-sighted development it is possible to construct live/work developments which will, to a large extent, obviate the need for road-clogging long commutes to distant employers.

The truth is, unless we build denser, more-affordable housing, we are going to end up with a Santa Cruz stuffed full of older, wealthier elites and mostly-empty weekend and summer houses owned by them. There’s simply just too much money chasing too few homes in a very beautiful, coastal area with a mild climate close to the most epic wealth-generating machine (Silicon Valley) the country has ever known.

Simply put: if we want a Santa Cruz that is accessible and affordable to people with a wide variety of incomes, we must build housing for them, because it presently does not exist.

I know it’s tempting to just stick our heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away. It did abate with the housing crash of 2007-2010, when many people lost their jobs and left the area. But with a strong economy and growing employment comes more demand for housing – we can’t have it both ways. Short of a Zombie Apocalypse, the only realistic and economically sound solution for our housing woes is the creation of more dense, affordable housing.

What are we waiting for?

Search for a Home in Aptos

Update April 3, 2018: the slides from the presentation can be downloaded here. Also, a video of the presentation has been posted to YouTube by the Santa Cruz Sentinel:

County Taking Applications for Affordable Aptos Village Homes

March 3, 2018 by Seb Frey

Work on the Aptos Village project is proceeding apace, and the county of Santa Cruz is now accepting applications from buyers for ten (10) affordable Aptos Village homes. These homes are deed-restricted Measure J units, the buyers for which must meet strict program criteria. These ten homes will be sold in two phases, with Phase 1 releasing four (4) 1-bedroom units and one (1) 2-bedroom unit. Phase 2 will have one 1-bedroom, two 2-bedroom, and two 3-bedroom units.

To qualify to buy these affordable Aptos village homes, you must be a first-time buyer and must have household income at or below 120% of the area median income. Applications are due May 18th 2018, with a lottery drawing to be held on June 1st of this year. Prices for these ten affordable Aptos Village homes have not been finalized, but preliminary reports indicate pricing will be in this range:

1-bedroom: $256,000-$280,000
2-bedroom: $296,000-$322,000
3-bedroom: $338,000-$363,000

Median income varies by household size, and Santa Cruz county is using these figures to determine yearly maximum income for qualification:

1 Person Household: $73,100
2 Person Household. $83,500
3 Person Household: $93,950
4 Person Household: $104,400
5 Person Household: $112,750
6 Person Household: $121,100
7 Person Household: $129,450

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The county will be holding a workshop for those interested in throwing their hat in the ring for one of these coveted units. The workshop will be held on Saturday, March 24th 2018, in the conference room of the Rio Sands Hotel. There will be two sessions: one in English from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and on in Spanish from 2:30 to 3:30 pm.

For more information on the process of purchasing these homes, please download this document from the Santa Cruz County Planning Department’s web site.

Barry Swenson, the developer of the Aptos Village, has indicated that sales of non-Measure J units should begin in Spring of 2018, at the time that the first units are ready for occupancy. Pricing for these units has not been announced.

Aptos Median Home Price, February 2017: $1,050,000

March 9, 2017 by Seb Frey

Spring is in the air! Like all of you, I’m thankful for the copious amounts of rain we’ve had this winter – but enough’s enough! I’m loving the sunshine, and I’m looking forward to the weather heating up. But the Aptos real estate market has galloped ahead of mother nature: it’s plenty hot already! Would you believe this: the Aptos median home price, February 2017: $1,050,000!

Everyone thinks that the spring heralds the start of the traditional real estate sales season. Truth be told, we don’t have much seasonality in the Aptos real estate market. While the market may take a bit of a slow down around the holidays, it’s usually roaring right along half way through January. And that’s borne out this year, because many of those February 2017 closings were initially listed for sale in January.

Compared to last year, it’s been a busy start to the real estate year: 15 single-family homes sold in Aptos in February 2017. You’re thinking that’s not a lot – but it’s 36% more than a year ago, when only 11 sold in February 2016.

What's YOUR Aptos House Value?

Interested to know what your Aptos house is worth in today's real estate market? Then head over to SellForSure.com for an instant, on-line evaluation of your Aptos home's value.

Those 15 homes sold in an average of 52 days – about the same as last year at this time, when they sold in 51 days on average. Sellers received 98% of full asking price in February 2017 – a smidgen better than the 97.6% they received a year prior.

The #1 favorite topic among the water coolers in the local real estate brokerages is real estate listings – where is the inventory?! 25 new single-family home listings hit the Aptos market this past February. A year ago? 26. But wait, we’re a week into March already, so how are we looking now? Just 4 new listings in the first 7 days in March 2017 – a year ago, we had 7 new listings by now.

A lot of folks are going to see the $1,050,000 February 2017 median sale price and say, “Wow! That’s really high!” And it is – but the median home price in January 2017 was even higher – $1,145,000. And in February 2016, the median home price was $1,059,000. These prices aren’t an anomaly – upper-end homes in Aptos are selling, comprising about half the market.

Looking for a Home in Aptos?

It may look like even at $1,050,000 the median sale price in February 2017 came in a little weak – but I put that down to the low sales volume. 15 sales does not represent a huge pool from which to draw meaningful conclusions, but it does indicate a market that is at least holding is own, at least for the time being. Interestingly, Zillow now rates zip code 95003 as only a 6.1 out of 10 on its “market health” score.

The “health metrics” I monitor most closely are median sale price, days on market, sales to list price ratio, and absorption rate. Right now, there are 49 single-family homes listed for sale on the Aptos MLS, but only 26 of them are available for purchase (the rest are already under contract). The way I figure it, we’re looking at around a 51 day supply of homes for sale in Aptos – and that means we are still in a very low-inventory hot seller’s market.

The $6,400,000 question is: but for how much longer?

Read a good book lately?

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Single Family Homes

210 Treasure Island Drive:
3/2 1436sf sold $669,150 in 9 DOM

2001 Sparrow Valley Road: 4/2.5 3,000sf sold $1,050,000 in 158 DOM

618 Beach Drive: 4/3 2,192sf sold $5,700,000 in 76 DOM

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Condos/Townhouses

226 Seascape Resort Drive: 1/1 608sf sold $390K in 32 DOM

277 Perch Way: 2/2.5 1514sf sold $656K in 7 DOM

428 SEASCAPE RESORT A & D Drive: 2/2 1288sf sold $735K in 122 DOM

New Accessory Dwelling Unit Rules for Santa Cruz County

March 6, 2017 by Seb Frey

New Rules for Accessory Dwelling Units in California

In September 2016 Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1069, which introduced a series of changes that limit the requirements local jurisdictions can place on the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units, otherwise known as “Granny units”. The intention behind the law was to make it easier to build ADUs, which tend to be a more affordable type of housing, and are seen by many housing and business advocacy groups as low hanging fruit in the fight to develop greater housing supply.

ADUs make use of existing land, are cheaper to develop than other types of housing (such as single family homes or multi-unit apartments), and are easier to approve because they are not subject to many of the same approval processes that other housing developments are. Furthermore, many local jurisdictions already have ordinances in place outlining ADU construction.

The main barriers to building more ADUs, like most housing products, are that local jurisdictions tend to over regulate their construction, oftentimes resulting in high compliance costs that can prove to be too cost prohibitive to the average homeowner; and entrenched neighborhood resistance to increased density. SB 1069 aims to address both this issues by limiting the type of regulations local jurisdictions can impose upon homeowners, streamlining local approval processes, and in some cases outright removing local control mechanisms.

Santa Cruz County was in the midst of updating its ADU ordinance when SB1069 was passed, and thus was able to reorient its approach to become one of the first local jurisdictions to react to the state mandate. A summary of the key changes is provided below.

All permit applications for new ADUs are now approved by a ministerial process, rather than a public hearing process. This means that a homeowner interested in building an ADU, who has met all of the County requirements and submitted site plans, should have a reasonable expectation of certainty that their application will be approved.
SB1069 also mandates that any application submitted must be approved or denied within 120 days
The County can no longer deny an ADU permit based upon a lack of available parking, and cannot require additional parking as a condition of approval.
New ADUs do not require a sprinkler system if the main dwelling does not have a sprinkler system.
Special districts (such as water or fire districts) can no longer require that homeowners purchase a second water meter to build an ADU. Though this change is being challenged in court.
ADUs can now be built on any lot that allows for a single family home, regardless of size or zoning.
ADUs built on top of existing structures, such as a garage, do not require a public hearing and are now are subject to the same ministerial approval process.
Rear setbacks have been reduced to a maximum of 5 feet for ADUs built on top of existing structures.
Additional sewer system requirements cannot be imposed on rural parcels of less than one acre that already have a single family home, unless a County Health Officer rules that it would have significant impacts on local water quality.

The County is currently conducting a survey on the new ADU changes, and is hoping to collect responses before March 14th. You can take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SantaCruzCountyADU

This article has been provided courtesy of Robert Singleton, Policy Analyst with the Santa Cruz County Business Council.

Looking for a Home in Aptos?

Aptos Real Estate Update January 2017

January 5, 2017 by Seb Frey

It’s a whole new year, Aptos! And that means it’s time for my Aptos Real Estate Update January 2017. Before we forget completely about what happened in 2016 (and I can’t blame you for trying!), let’s take a look back and see what the Aptos real estate market was like in the final month of 2016.

Without further ado, I’ll tell you that the median price for single family homes in Aptos in December 2016 was $912,250. That’s a fair bit less than the $968K we saw the month prior, but it is up a whopping 18.8% compared to a year ago. Yep, in December 2015 the median price stood at a lowly $779,000. What a difference a year makes!

But a single month doesn’t provide enough home sales to produce a really meaningful statistic. So I looked back at the whole year, January to December, and saw the median price for single family homes in Aptos was $874,000 with 258 homes sold. I looked back one year past that, and in 2015 we sold 334 homes in Aptos, with a median price of $827,500. That means that as a whole, home prices were up only 5.6% in 2016 versus 2015 – but home sales actually plummeted, down nearly 23%!

What's YOUR Aptos House Value?

Interested to know what your Aptos house is worth in today's real estate market? Then head over to SellForSure.com for an instant, on-line evaluation of your Aptos home's value.

But December was a pretty decent month for home sales in Aptos – 22 homes were sold last month, about the same as this time a year ago (23 sold in December 2015). And they sold about as quickly as they did a year ago – in 85 days on average, versus 83 days on average in the year-ago period. Sellers received 95.5% of full asking price last month – which is actually a pretty big discount compared to most months – for example, a year ago in December, sellers received 96.5% of full asking price.

We had exactly the same amount of new inventory available in December 2016 vs. 2015 – 9 single family listings hit the market both years at this time. Last year the median list price was $829K; this year, the median asking price for new listings in December was $1,049,000 (and THAT home went under contract in 1 day!).

When it comes to inventory, it’s the same sad story – we have just a 50 day supply of single family homes available for purchase in Aptos as of this writing. There are presently 53 homes listed on the Aptos MLS, but 28 of those are under contract with only 25 available for purchase. Bad news for buyers, but GREAT news if you’re looking to put a house up for sale soon.

Read a good book lately?

As we begin the new year, mortgage interest rates are about where they were a month ago, with 30-year fixed rates hovering around 4.15% for many types of borrowers and loans. Rates had risen sharply after the election, and there was a fear that rates would continue to rise, however they appear to have stabilized for now, and are still quite low by historical standards.

While interest rates have been stable over the past month, most talking heads are predicting that interest rates will be rising throughout 2017. There’s a growing optimism that the economy will continue to pick up steam, which will in turn drive up the demand for money and borrowing costs. The Mortgage Banking Association is predicting that rates will gradually rise, hitting 4.7% at the end of the year.

Despite the rise in interest rates, most “experts” are still predicting that home prices will continue to rise in the United States – albeit at a much more gradual pace, somewhere around 3-5%. Check out this article on Forbes and also this on the Wall Street Journal.

If you’re looking for a 2017 prediction closer to home, check out the 2017 California Market Forecast by Leslie Appleton-Young, Chief Economist for the California Association of Realtors.

Looking for a Home in Aptos?

Aptos Condos and Townhouses

Yawn. The condo market in Aptos was pretty sleepy last month. Only 6 condos and townhouses traded hands last month, and the median price was $579,650. That’s up just about 2.5% compared to a year ago – in other words, accounting for inflation, condo prices have gone nowhere in Aptos over the last year. The 6 condos that sold did so in an average of 69 days (vs. 50 days a year ago). Condo sellers did receive 98.6% of full asking price though – better than last year (they got only 97.7% in December 2015).

If you are thinking about selling your condo or townhouse in Aptos soon, I’ve got some really great news for you. There are presently just 27 condo listings in Aptos; 15 of these are available for purchase, while 12 of them are pending sale. According to my calculations, that works out to a 56 day supply of inventory of condos and townhouses in Aptos – very slim pickings! Sellers in this market have next-to-no competition for their homes.

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Single Family Homes

224 Treasure Island Drive – 2/1 800sf sold $599K in 86 DOM

130 Seabreeze Place – 4/2.5 1970sf sold $925,000 in 84 DOM

713 Seacliff Drive – 3/3 2,409sf sold $2,335,000 in 87 DOM

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Condos/Townhouses

2607 Willowbrook Lane #59 – 2/2 1170sf sold $449,500 in 106 DOM

326 Village Creek Roa – 2/2 1629sf sold $571,300 in 81 DOM

130 Carrera Circle – 3/2.5 1449sf sold $715K in 28 DOM

Aptos Real Estate Update November 2016

November 23, 2016 by Seb Frey

It’s only been a month or so since my last real estate market update – but wow, a lot can happen in a month! Would you believe…Donald Trump is now President-Elect? I wrote a whole piece and did a video about what that means for your home’s value last week, and it’s already had hundreds of views. If you’re interested to hear what may be in store for your Aptos home’s value in the coming months and years, it’s worth a read.

But here in the Shire, err, Aptos, that is, things are looking rosy. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been enjoying the rain and I hope it keeps up! It hasn’t dampened home prices, that’s for sure – the median single family home price in Aptos in October 2016 was $856,000 – that’s up 10.8% year-over-year, and up 5.6% from the prior month. We closed 25 homes in October – down 7.4% from a year ago, and those homes sold in an average of 48 days on market (vs. 40 days on market this time a year ago).

What's YOUR Aptos House Value?

Interested to know what your Aptos house is worth in today's real estate market? Then head over to SellForSure.com for an instant, on-line evaluation of your Aptos home's value.

If you’re thinking about selling your home this fall or winter, here’s some more good news: we are down to just 71 days of inventory. That means if you’re looking to buy, there are slim pickings – a 2.4 month supply of homes means this is a very strong seller’s market. Owners who do a good job pricing their homes will usually be rewarded by getting multiple offers and a sale price often high over asking price.

Speaking of pricing your home, I thought I’d share with you something interesting that’s happening right in my own neighborhood. I live in a small little self-contained neighborhood near Cabrillo College, and there are two homes up for sale right now: the “cheap” house is 2839 Estates Drive (3/2, 1450sf, 23,697sf lot with a swimming pool, initially listed at $799K). The “expensive” house is 2884 Estates Drive (5/4, 2856sf, 11,543sf lot, initially listed at $1,050,000 later reduced to $1,025,000).

“Aptos — The TRUTH: Your Home's List Price

What a List Price Really Means

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The “cheap” house does a huge back yard, and a pool (which typically adds $0 in value around here) – but it’s much smaller than the “expensive” house, and the interior hasn’t been updated pretty much since it was built in the 1960s. The “expensive” house was “refreshed” prior to sale – the kitchen was updated, but not luxuriously so. The baths are original 1960s, but the rest of the house has been cleaned up with new high-grade laminate flooring, carpet, and fresh paint throughout.

Well guess what happened? The “cheap” house got 6-7 offers in just 5 days on market. The house is now under contract, and the list price has been boosted to $895,000 – which pretty much means that the contract price on that is $895K. The “expensive” house has been on the market for 56 days, with no offers. It’s going to sit, and sit…and sit.

2839 Estates Drive – listed at $779,000

2884 Estates Drive – Listed at $1,025,000

A lot of folks around here own condos and townhouses, and they’ll be interested to know that the median price for condos and townhouses in Aptos in October 2016 was $550,000 – that’s a 15.9% drop over a year ago, and also down 9.5% month over month. On the flip side, 9 condos and townhouses sold in the month, and that’s up 125% from a year ago, when just 4 sold in October 2015.

The condos which sold did so in an average of just 37 days on market, and sellers received 98.4% of full asking price! Not too shabby – but sellers did a bit better last year. In October 2015, sellers got their Aptos condos and townhouses sold in an average of 26 days and for 101% of full asking price.

Looking for a Home in Aptos?

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Single Family Homes

514 Bonita Drive - 2/1 964sf sold $480K after 86 DOM — 514 Bonita Drive – 2/1 964sf sold $480K after 86 DOM

327 Rio Del Mar Boulevard - 3/2.5 1716sf sold $856K after 17 DOM — 327 Rio Del Mar Boulevard – 3/2.5 1716sf sold $856K after 17 DOM

775 Las Olas Drive, 5/3 2364sf sold $5,500,000 after 53 DOM

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Condos/Townhouses

2601 Willowbrook Lane,#13 - 1/1 834sf sold $365K after 22 DOM — 2601 Willowbrook Lane,#13 – 1/1 834sf sold $365K after 22 DOM

3079 Arlington Drive, Aptos 95003 - 2/2 1107sf sold $550K after 4 DOM — 3079 Arlington Drive, Aptos 95003 – 2/2 1107sf sold $550K after 4 DOM

1093 Via Tornasol - 3/2 1849sf sold $970K after 50 DOM — 1093 Via Tornasol – 3/2 1849sf sold $970K after 50 DOM

Aptos Real Estate Update October 2016

October 25, 2016 by Seb Frey

It has been four months since my last Aptos real estate market update, back in June. Back then, I had some actual news to share. The real estate report was no longer the same story of rising prices with crushingly low inventory. Prices were still rising back in June, but the number of sales had dropped and the supply of homes reached nearly six months – the biggest supply we’d seen in quite some time, and as everyone knows, greater supply often leads to lower prices.

The spring and summer selling seasons are long behind us, and we’re well into autumn. Far from being a dead time of year, some of the highest prices for Santa Cruz Real Estate are recorded in the autumn months. So how is the Aptos real estate market holding up these four months later, in October 2016?

What’s YOUR Aptos House Value?

Interested to know what your Aptos house is worth in today’s real estate market? Then head over to SellForSure.com for an instant, on-line evaluation of your Aptos home’s value.

The answer is, it’s been stronger – Zillow gives Aptos a “market health” of 7.5/10 – which is rated as “good” but not “excellent” as we’ve seen in the past. Homesnap rates Aptos at 81/100 – “healthy” – but not “very healthy” as we’ve seen it not so long ago.

But here’s what you really want to know – the median home price for single-family homes in Aptos in September 2016 was $805,000 – which is down 9.3% compared to a year ago. Speaking of good and healthy: that perfectly describes this year-over-year price drop, if you ask me. The number of homes sold was also down; only 29 homes were sold in September 2016, vs. 40 in September 2015, a drop of 27.5%.

Looking for a Home in Aptos?

But the news wasn’t all bad: homes sold for 99% of asking price, and a year ago homes received just 96.9% of full list price. Also, the 29 homes that sold did so in an average of just 34 days on market – compared to 46 days on market a year ago. It seems that while folks are paying less for housing this year than last year, the homes are selling more quickly – a mixed blessing for sellers.

And here’s some more good news, at least if you’re thinking about putting your home on the market this year: we are back down to a 3 month supply, vs. a 6 months supply four months ago. There are 103 single family homes for sale in Aptos at the moment, with 33 under contract and just 70 available for purchase. That works out to just 95 days worth of inventory – or, not much competition for home seller, and a still-challenging market for home buyers.

What does the future hold?

Want to know what the future holds? Wouldn’t we all! There’s no way to know for sure what’s going to happen with the housing market next year, but you can listen to an expert’s best guess here: California 2017 Real Estate Market Forecast

The market for townhouses and condos in Aptos is also also down compared to a year ago. Just four townhouses/condos sold in Aptos in September 2016 – compared to 11 in September 2015, a decrease of 63.6% year over year. The median price for condos in September 12016 was lower too – just $607,750 vs $672,500 a year ago (a drop of 9.,6% year over year).

One interesting note about the condo market is that these 4 homes sold in an average of just 11 days on market – compared to 66 days on market a year ago. This is a good indication that well-priced homes will sell – and sell quickly – in Aptos. If you are planning to sell your condo or townhouse, please note that there is presently 150 days worth of inventory in Aptos, so don’t be too aggressive with your pricing.

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Single-Family Homes

7101 Fern Flat Road - 0 bed, 0 bath, 300sf - sold for $420K after 42 DOM (7 acres of land) — 7101 Fern Flat Road – 0 bed, 0 bath, 300sf – sold for $420K after 42 DOM (7 acres of land)

200 Heather Terrace - 3/2.5, 1957sf - sold for $805K in 42 DOM — 200 Heather Terrace – 3/2.5, 1957sf – sold for $805K in 42 DOM

544 Beach Drive - 3/3 2100sf - sold for $1,825,000 after 64 DOM — 544 Beach Drive – 3/3 2100sf – sold for $1,825,000 after 64 DOM

Low, Median, and Highest Sales – Condos/Townhouses

1614 Dolphin Drive - 2/2 945sf - sold for $450K in 14 DOM — 1614 Dolphin Drive – 2/2 945sf – sold for $450K in 14 DOM

6115 Sheraton Place - 3/2.5 1479sf - sold for $625K in 11 DOM — 6115 Sheraton Place – 3/2.5 1479sf – sold for $625K in 11 DOM

210 Carrera Circle - 3/2.5 1450sf - sold for $704K in 9 DOM — 210 Carrera Circle – 3/2.5 1450sf – sold for $704K in 9 DOM

County is Planning Big Changes for Vacation Rentals

July 2, 2016 by Seb Frey

More Restrictions are coming for Aptos Vacation Rentals

This article is provided courtesy of Robert Singleton, the Government Affairs Director for the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors. It is being provided to readers of AptosCommunityNews as many Aptos residents and home owners will be affected by the proposed changes.

During their June meeting the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted to place significantly harsher restrictions on local vacation rental units and property owners. If you have been following this issue for the past couple of years then you were likely already aware of the two existing designated tourism districts in both Live Oak and Seacliff.

Essentially, these districts limit the total number of houses that can be used as short terms rentals, as well as the number of short term rentals per neighborhood block.

Last Tuesday, the Board not only created a new district (encompassing Davenport and the surrounding areas), but also adopted a half measure process that governs how these permits are to be awarded and renewed, both of which will hurt property owners.

Now the original stated purpose for the creation of these districts was twofold:

limit the neighborhood impacts that are associated with vacation rentals, and
protect units that would (could) be used as long term rentals.

The Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors opposed these new regulations from the beginning because we saw them as a violation of private property rights, but also because it’s a classic case of the government picking winners and losers. By creating an artificial scarcity in the marketplace for permits (whose potential value may exceed $100,000), the Board was effectively able to distort the value of all the affected properties in these areas. Starting day 1, the homes that had permits instantly became more valuable than those that didn’t, and thus it was (and still is) within every household’s self-interest to seek out a permit, even if they don’t intend to use it.

Now the unintended consequences of enacting such a policy are pretty clear, but rather than address the fundamental problem in approach (placing arbitrary limits on a high demand market), the Board doubled down with measures meant to diminish the potential negative repercussions of the policy.

First, they decided to not deed restrict the permits (which is unlike almost every other use permit on the books), electing instead to adopt a 5 year period of use, thus making the market distortion in home values a temporary phenomenon; while hopefully allowing for more households to take advantage of this price inflation once the first permits began to expire. They also decided to award the first permits to those homeowners who had already been paying Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), which were few and far between. The rest of the permits: first come first served.

Now here is probably the most significant problem with this policy: If you limit the total number of properties that can be short term rentals, but choose not to pair the permit with the property, who gets to decide which properties get permits and when? Well they took the easy way out and basically created a process where no one decides, it’s as simple as whoever shows up first.

Buying a house is likely the most important investment a person will make in their lifetime, and now the County has the power to either add or takeaway a significant portion of that home’s value based upon what criteria? A permit that could easily be worth over $100,000 (in just revenue) over the 5 year period, and they have absolutely no process for determining who does or does not reap that benefit. First come, first served.

The Planning Commission, based upon a recommendation from staff, voted unanimously to build in a “grace period” whereby existing and legal short term rental units could reapply for the permit that they had already been enjoying. They were to be given up to 60 days to decide if they wanted to opt back into operation, so to speak, which they undoubtedly would because who wants to lose $100,000 of appraised value from their house?!? On Tuesday the Board (minus absent Zach Friend) voted to end that grace period entirely, and when paired with the first come first serve policy, basically means once those permits are up, no one knows what’s going to happen.

Staff and the Planning Commission both outlined multiple ways in which this problem could be avoided. They gave multiple options, including a lottery system and a criteria system. But the Board justified their stance in favor of the first come first served policy by stating “well we don’t know what’s going to happen when these permits come up for renewal, so let’s just wait until then.”

So there is now a massive economic interest in getting a vacation rental permit and no criteria for awarding that permit other than being one of the first people to grab it. They are no incentives for good financial standing, or good management, just incidental penalties for bad behavior. On top of this you don’t even have to use the permit. You only have to prove “significant rental use” when reapplying for your permit, 5 years later.

The County then also mandated that all new vacation rental units with 4 or more bedrooms (admittedly arbitrary) have to have a public hearing before the Zoning Administrator (ZA). Now beyond the practical problems associated with a public hearing (time of day, opportunity cost, etc.), there is no reason to even have one in the first place. Why? Because all new permits can already be appealed to that same ZA, through an already established process. Furthermore, the ZA has no grounds to deny an individual a permit anyway. If you meet all the requirements upon application then there are no other legal reasons why the ZA would be allowed to deny you.

So why do it?

The purpose is to intimidate would-be vacation landlords from going through the process to begin with. A mandatory public hearing creates the space for public shame. Again, even if the ZA can’t deny your permit you are still required to attend a hearing in which your neighbors (and frankly anyone who doesn’t like the idea of your vacation rental) are encouraged to show up and list all of the reasons why they don’t like your idea, despite the inherent economic benefit of getting one.

So this brings us to the most important part of this article: What can we do about this?

Good news! The ordinance has not yet been finalized and must go through both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors again before becoming law. This means we need still have time to fight this! Here’s what you can do:

Attend any and all hearings of the County Planning Commission, Housing Advisory Commission, and Board of Supervisors as possible. Even if they aren’t hearing this particular item on the day you attend, you should still stand up to speak during oral communications to let them know how you feel. The schedules for each of these bodies can be found here:
a. Board of Supervisors
b. Planning Commission
c. Housing Advisory Commission
If you cannot attend these meetings then please send a letter via email to all of the Supervisors and their staff: john.leopold@co.santa-cruz.ca.us, zach.friend@co.santa-cruz.ca.us, ryan.coonerty@santacruzcounty.us, greg.caput@co.santa-cruz.ca.us, bruce.mcpherson@co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Write a letter to the editor to the Sentinel expressing your dissatisfaction with the new rules. Need material? Email me and I can provide you with some samples, or we can even write a letter together: gad@mysccar.org
SHARE THIS ARTICLE! Seriously, share this article with all of your friends, post it on Facebook NextDoor, email it to your coworkers, send it to anybody who will listen!
If you are interested in any of the above options but have questions or comments about anything in this article do not hesitate to email me: gad@mysccar.org. I can help you with what you want to say and how to say it. I am also going to start holding regular organizing meetings with people who are interested so that we can stay ahead of this issue.

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This article is provided courtesy of Robert Singleton, the Government Affairs Director for the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors. It is being provided to readers of AptosCommunityNews as many Aptos residents and home owners will be affected by the proposed changes.