Aptos Summer 2018 Real Estate Wrap-Up

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I know I’m not imagining it – the family cat is choosing to spend more nights indoors lately, so I know the nights are getting cooler.  It’s proof that the fall season is just around the corner, making this the perfect time to give you the Aptos Summer 2018 Real Estate Wrap-Up.

It’s been a while since I’ve done an Aptos real estate market update – way back in April, in fact.  Back then, I reported that the median price for single family homes in Santa Cruz county had hit a nose-bleeding height of $920,500 in March.  However, at that time I reported there’d been 132 closed sales – looking at the data now, there were 133 closed sales for March 2018 in Santa Cruz county, and the median price dropped to $897,500.  Amazing what adding a single sale to the statistics will do!

You may have heard the vicious rumor going around that the real estate market has been cooling.  Indeed, the median single family home price for Santa Cruz county did drop down to $896,500 – a decrease of 0.12% from the initially record-breaking number set in March, which is hardly what I would call a market in free-fall.

Lately though I’ve been taking to looking at the average price per square foot as perhaps a more useful indicator of what home prices are doing.  And here, we do see something that’s maybe a little alarming for home owners thinking of selling their house:  the average sized home to sell in July had 1,733 square feet with an average price-per-square-foot of $593 – but it was $645/sf in March with an average home size of 1,803sf.

That’s interesting because, generally speaking, the larger the home, the lower the price per square foot (because the land is worth such a high percentage of total value)…but comparing March 2018 to July 2018, we see a decrease in both average square footage and price per square foot. A fluke? Probably. But worth noting, especially for all of those waiting for the bottom to fall out of the market.

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Aptos by the Numbers

I know, I know  – you came here expecting to hear what’s up with the Aptos real estate market, not the overall Santa Cruz market.  Here’s the single family Aptos home sale data for the past few months:

July 2018

Median Price:  $1,124,500 (+25% vs. $899,000 year-ago)
# of Sales:  22 (vs. 23 year-ago)
Average Days on Market:  27 (vs. 41 year-ago)
Average $/sf:  $591 (+15.7% vs. year-ago $511/sf)
New Listings:  41 (vs. 35 year-ago)

June 2018

Median Price:  $1,127,500 (+10% vs. $1,025,000 year-ago)
# of Sales:  27 (vs. 34 year-ago)
Average Days on Market:  23 (vs. 25 year-ago)
Average $/sf:  $607 (+5.2% vs. year-ago $577/sf)
New Listings:  33 (vs. 53 year-ago)

May 2018

Median Price:  $1,100,000 (+5.4% vs. $1,043,808 year-ago)
# of Sales:  31 (vs. 18 year-ago)
Average Days on Market:  32 (vs. 43 year-ago)
Average $/sf:  $673 (+18.9% vs. year-ago $566/sf)
New Listings:  38 (vs. 40 year-ago)

When I look at these three months, I don’t see a market that looks like it’s cooling too much.  The data say that the median price is up, the average price per square foot is up, the total number of sales in the time period is up, and the days on market is down.

I know, it could have all gone to hell in a hand basket in the month of August which is almost over, but I’ve got a feeling based on the fact that there’s fewer new listings hitting the market and more sales in these three months that August data will show a pretty healthy market.  In fact, our good friends at Zillow give the Aptos real estate market an 8.1/10 – calling it “very healthy.”

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Aptos Village Homes for Sale

So there’s no news in the Aptos real estate market sales data – it’s more of the same good news for sellers, and a hard row to hoe for buyers.  The only legit real estate news in Aptos is that at long last, new homes are for sale in the new Aptos village.

Swenson Builders, the primary developer of the Aptos Village, has a two townhouses listed on the MLS.  442 Granite Way (3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 1,657sf) was initially listed on July 10 at $975,000 but was reduced to $895,000 on August 28th.  516 Granite Way (also 3/2.5 but 1,278sf) was listed on August 28, for the princely sum of $795,000.

It should be noted that these are not the only two units for sale.  As the MLS says, “A distinct collection of 69 homes, with plans ranging from 1-3 bedrooms, this vibrant community has a design for every modern family. Other units are available.” (emphasis added)

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