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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.”

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.

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)

Looking for a Home in Aptos?


Every home in Aptos is unique, and finding just the right home can be like finding that needle in a haystack. Fortunately, now there's SantaCruz.RealEstate, featuring the best search engine for Aptos homes and real estate available online today!
103 Carlino Lane in Aptos (4,486sf, 5beds, 3 full baths, 2 half baths, 3/4 acre lot) sold on August 2, 2018 for $2,140,000 after 36 DOM.

Aptos Village Merchants Announced

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The new Aptos Village takes shape

Swenson Builders, the lead developer on the new Aptos Village project, has announced that five local businesses plan to join New Leaf Community Markets at Aptos Village: The Penny Ice Creamery, Cat & Cloud Coffee, Sereno Group, Sockshop & Shoe Company and a restaurant led by Michelin 3-star chef David Kinch.

“Our team has been working diligently to attract talented local business that appreciate the unique Aptos Village location and have the expertise to create a synergy at the Village that will stand the test of time,” said Mary Gourlay, Development Project Manager at Swenson. “We are thrilled with businesses coming so far and believe they will be a great fit for the community. While we still have considerable work to do, we are quite pleased with the shops underway and look forward to some incredible grand openings in 2019.”

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Since 2010, The Penny Ice Creamery has been a destination in Downtown Santa Cruz, offering an array of uniquely delicious flavors. Using only locally-sourced and sustainably grown ingredients, Penny Ice crafts their ice cream from scratch, mixing artisanal expertise with local flair. The Penny also has a location in Pleasure Point. Learn more: www.thepennyicecreamery.com.

Starting with their artsy, good-vibes café in Pleasure Point, Cat & Cloud expanded into Abbott Square Market in Downtown Santa Cruz 2017. This homegrown café and roastery was founded by Chris Baca and Jared Trudy, two locals who mastered the art of coffeemaking with community in mind. Learn more: www.catandcloud.com.

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.

Sereno Group is a collaboration of the best and brightest, top-producing real estate agents in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Sereno is proud to offer quality service and top-notch client relations. Learn more: www.serenogroup.com.

An institution of downtown for 30 years, Sockshop & Shoe Company provides a world of fun and quirky footwear in the original spirit of Santa Cruz. Beyond socks, Sockshop offers a selection of stylish shoes, boots and sandals for both men and women. Sockshop also has a location on the wharf in Santa Cruz. Learn more: www.sockshopandshoeco.com.

A new restaurant, to be named and developed by David Kinch and Andrew Burnham, also will open in the Aptos Village. Kinch’s flagship restaurant, Manresa, is a renowned Michelin three-star dining establishment just over the hill in Los Gatos. The group’s other projects include Manresa Bread and The Bywater. Learn more: www.manresarestaurant.com, manresabread.com, thebywaterca.com

Aptos Home Search Tool
Search for a Home in Aptos

New Leaf Community Markets will open its fifth Santa Cruz County location in the historic Hihn Apple Barn at Aptos Village. Planned features of the new 17,500-square-foot Aptos store include an expansive, fresh-prepared foods department with new, made-to-order options such as a wok and ramen bar, inviting outdoor patio seating plus all of New Leaf’s most popular offerings including freshly made juices and smoothies, local and organic produce, sustainably raised meats, responsibly sourced seafood and a fully stocked wellness department. Learn more: www.newleaf.com.

For questions regarding commercial development in Aptos, please contact Mary Gourlay at SWENSON: 831.475.7100. For information about remaining commercial opportunities in phase one or future space in phase two, please contact our commercial brokers at: http://www.theaptosvillage.com/commercial/

Do you love tacos?

Aptos Home Prices
Dinner’s On Me!

Thinking about selling your home in the next few months? If so, you probably have a lot of questions and would like someone to talk to. Let me take you out to dinner – tacos or otherwise – and let’s discuss how you can get your home sold quickly, easily – and for the highest possible price. OK Sign me Up!

Aptos Wine Wander Returns for 2018

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Aptos Wine Wander Returns June 9th, 2018

The Aptos Wine Wander returns for 2018!  This year, the event will be held on Saturday, June 9th, from 1 to 4 PM in Aptos Village.  Come and join your community for a fun afternoon of mingling and sampling delicious, local Santa Cruz mountain wines and nibbles in the heart of Aptos.  This event is sponsored by the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association and the merchants of Aptos Village.

Tickets are limited, so purchase yours today!  Tickets are $35 each, and can be ordered online here (scroll down and look at the bottom left of the page where you can click “add to cart”).  Folks who went to the 2016 Wine Wander said it was a ton of fun and a great way to chat with friends and neighbors, new and old!

All proceeds benefit Rio Del Mar Elementary, Mar Vista Elementary and Valencia Elementary.

2018 Participating Wineries

  • Bargetto Winery
  • Burrell School Vineyards and Winery
  • Integrity Wines
  • Nicholson Vineyards
  • Stockwell Cellars
  • Windy Oaks Estate Vineyards and Winery
  • Wrights Station Vineyard and Winery

2018 Participating Businesses

  • Aptos Medical Aesthetics
  • Cantine Winepub
  • Jet Set Bohemian
  • Gravity Saddlemaker
  • Magnolia Fine Gifts & Apothecary
  • The Mulberry Gallery
  • Warmth Company
Home Seller Seminar

County Taking Applications for Affordable Aptos Village Homes

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Aptos Village Rendering

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

Looking for a Home in Aptos?


Every home in Aptos is unique, and finding just the right home can be like finding that needle in a haystack. Fortunately, now there's SantaCruz.RealEstate, featuring the best search engine for Aptos homes and real estate available online today!

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.

Related Posts On AptosCommunityNews

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Aptos Apple Barn Reaches Final Location

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Aptos Apple Barn Reaches Final LocationThe last piece of the Apple Barn ready to be lowered onto its new foundation. The future New Leaf Community Market is now in place for the next phase of Aptos Village development. The Kelly Brothers House Movers finished its part of the project as they […]

Time Lapse Video shows Hihn Apple Barn Moving

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Hihn Apple Barn on the Move
Hihn Apple Barn on the Move

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’re probably aware that the construction work for the new Aptos Village began several months back. For months, passers by have seen the Hihn Apple Barn up on jacks, as it was being prepared to move to its new site. Last month, on September 22, the move began. The folks at Barry Swenson Builder have now released a cool time-lapse video showing the Hihn Apple Barn moving slowly on its way to its new permanent location within Aptos Village.

Time Lapse Video

The L-shaped building is 181 feet long and 100 feet wide, and has been divided into two sections. The division was made at the location where the first addition was made to the barn about 100 years ago.

So far, one section of the barn has been moved nearly 200 feet across the property and has been rotated 160 degrees. The move is being done on rollers, a laborious and slow process. When the first section of barn is in place, Kelly Brothers House Movers will begin work to move the second section.

The pad where the barn will be placed has been trenched for a foundation, and that work has been inspected and certified. The aim is to have both sections of the barn situated on the pad before the rainy season.

Relocating and rehabilitating the barn is a key element of the Aptos Village Project. Although the exact date the Hihn Apple Barn was constructed is not known, the barn is historically significant. Part of the building appears to have been constructed c.1891-1899, with substantial additions in 1915 and c.1920, with the last bay (88 feet long by 36 feet wide) c.1929-1930. The barn will become a New Leaf Community Market and open into the Village Green common area, a new civic heart for Aptos.

Local Aptos historian Kevin Newhouse was interviewed by Phil Gomez with KSBS Action News 8, and that video can be seen here:

KSBW Interviews Kevin Newhouse

Zach Friend Interview: Aptos Village

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In the ninth and final segment of our Zach Friend Interview Series, the Supervisor talks about the Aptos Village Project. Zach stresses that the county’s role in the project at this point is very specific, focusing primarily on traffic improvements such as new signal lights, sidewalk, widening Soquel Drive, installing a dedicated left turn lane, and crosswalks. These will be some of the first changes we’ll see in the Village, and it’s just the beginning of a multi-year process. To the greatest degree possible, the county and the developer will provide information to the community proactively so people can plan accordingly.

Watch the Video Now

We hope that you have enjoyed all these segments of our Zach Friend Interview Series!

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Zach Friend Interview: Housing Affordability

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In the eighth segment of our Zach Friend Interview Series, the Supervisor talks about housing affordability and what needs to happen to improve it in Santa Cruz county. According to Friend, too many people live in substandard and overcrowded housing conditions, and it is simply unacceptable for this to be happening in a place and time as wealthy as we live in.  The Supervisor notes that if current trends continue, there will be more renters than home owners in Santa Cruz county in a couple of years.

He remarks that many of today’s problems with traffic can be attributed to the fact that most of the new housing in the county has been built in the southern portion of the county, but most of the job growth has been to the north. While the county does not build housing, what it can do is facilitate an environment where housing can be built that fits the present-day and future needs of Santa Cruz county.

The Supervisor also discussed redevelopment of the Par Three Golf Course and the Poor Clares property as well, as there’s been some talk in the community over the years about these properties.

Watch the Video Now

In the ninth segment of the interview, Supervisor Friend wraps up our interview and discusses the Aptos Village Project.

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Aptos Wine Wander Set for May 14

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Aptos Wine Wander 2016
Aptos Wine Wander 2016

Aptos Village businesses have announced they will host the first-ever Aptos Wine Wander, a fundraiser for Aptos-area elementary schools held in partnership with the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association, on Saturday, May 14 2016.

The inaugural event, which will be 1-4 p.m., will feature wines from 10 fine Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries. Participating wineries include: Armitage Wines, Bargetto Winery, Bottle Jack Winery, Mindego Ridge Vineyard, MJA Vineyards, Nicholson Vineyards, Sante Arcangeli Family Winery, Silver Mountain Vineyards, Windy Oaks Estate Vineyard & Winery and Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery.

Del Crawford of the Mulberry Gallery
Del Crawford of the Mulberry Gallery

Tastings will be offered inside Aptos Village businesses, located on Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road. Wine Wanderers will be encouraged to walk business-to-business to explore the shops and sample wine. Wine tastings will be offered at Cantine Winepub, Warmth Company, Mulberry Gallery, Armitage Wines, Talmadge Construction, Gravity Saddlemaker, Jet Set Bohemian, Claudia DeMaranville Allstate, Aptos Village Garage, Print Smith and Epicenter Cycling.

“The Wine Wander is one of several new events local businesses will be hosting to remind Aptos residents of the wonderful services that are available here in the ‘heart of the Village’” said Claudia DeMaranville, agency principal for Allstate Insurance, a longtime Aptos Village business. “The Aptos Village is a diverse shopping area that allows our residents to buy local and receive fantastic customer service close to home.”

Barry Swenson Builders, Appenrodt Commercial Properties, Testorff Construction, Aptos Village Merchants, Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association and Times Publishing Group are sponsoring the event.

“We are excited to be a part of this whimsical, community-oriented event that draws people into locally owned businesses while showcasing the amazing wines made in our region,” said Mary Gourlay, Development Project Manager at Barry Swenson Builder, which is developing the Aptos Village Project.

Proceeds from the Aptos Wine Wander will benefit Mar Vista, Rio del Mar and Valencia Elementary Schools. Tickets, which include a commemorative glass, are $35 in advance and are available online through the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association, http://scmwa.com/event/aptos-wine-wander. Tickets will be $40 at the door.

Work has Begun on Second Aptos Trestle Mural

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Art Thomae and the Mural
Art Thomae and the Mural

Work has begun on the second Aptos trestle mural!  Local mural artist Art Thomae was down with his paint brushes and ladder yesterday, the first day of work on a job that is likely to need months to complete.  Mr. Thomae is the same artist who created the mural on northern trestle on the other side of Aptos Village last year.  This mural will feature an iconic Baldwin steam train from the late 1800’s which used to service the various industrial operations in Aptos Village.  For train aficionados, a very similar steam train can today be seen in the California State Railroad Museum.

The project is not yet fully funded, and donations are still being sought! Donors are encouraged to contact Mary Russell through the Aptos Chamber. Mary can be reached at 831-566-8836 or via email at mer4000@aol.com.  If you’d like to help out with the actual painting work as well, volunteers on the project are also welcome.

A lot of our community members have worked hard to make this happen:  Steve Allen, Mary Russell, Adele Talmadge, and John Hibble with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce and Aptos History Museum.  Art Thomae also wanted to give a special and particular shout-out to Hal Turner of Turner Painting, who did a lot of work helping get the site prepared for the new mural.

Painting Design
Art Thomae and the Engine
Mural Site