• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Aptos Community News

Sharing and caring about what happens in Aptos

  • Calendar
  • News
  • Parks & Rec
    • Beaches
    • Parks
    • Sports/Fitness
  • Shopping
  • Real Estate
    • Aptos Home Values
    • Aptos Homes for Sale
  • Eats
    • Bars
    • Cafe
    • Restaurants
    • Deli
  • Gems
  • Lifestyle
  • RSS
You are here: Home / Archives for real estate

real estate

January 2021 Aptos Real Estate Update

January 19, 2021 by Seb Frey

763 Las Olas Drive in Aptos sold for $9,255,000 in December of 2020

If you ask around, you’ll find very few people who are sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. In so many respects, it was an absolutely awful year, for our community and the country as a whole. At the time of this writing, the nation records its 400,000th death attributed to COVID – with 113 of those deaths occurring in Santa Cruz County. Ironically, despite all the turmoil and tumult of 2020, the Aptos real estate market turned in a remarkably good year.

Of course, real estate markets the world over have thrived during the pandemic. In the United States at least, this has been driven by large numbers of people now looking for better and larger accommodations, since they are spending so much more time at home. This, coupled with record-low interest rates, have created a market with a voracious appetite for real estate, across the state, across the country – and right here in Aptos, too.

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

A Look Back at 2020

The numbers for 2020 bear this story out. All the numbers used in this article are for single-family home sales; multi-family, condominium, and mobile home sales are excluded. These numbers are striking.

To begin: the median single-family home price in Aptos in 2020 was $1,175,000 – a 17.5% jump over all of 2019, when the median Aptos home price was an even $1,000,000. The average price in 2020 was $1,409,351 and in 2019 $1,198,532 – up 17.5% in a year.

The median price however is influenced by the kinds of homes which are selling in any particular time period. It is perhaps more helpful to look at the price per square foot: in 2020, the median price per square foot in Aptos was $630 – compared to $555 in 2019, an increase of over 13% on a per-square-foot basis. Likewise the average price square foot in 2020 was $745, vs. $613 in 2019 – a jump of nearly 22%. The price-per-square-foot is often a better barometer of values than median or single family home price.

No matter how you slice it, home sale prices were up sharply in 2020 compared to 2019. But there are some other numbers which illustrate just how incredible 2020 was in Aptos. For example, 301 homes sold in Aptos in 2020 – vs. 237 in 2019, a jump of 27%. What’s even more telling than this though is the ratio of listings to sales. 337 homes were listed for sale in Aptos in 2020 – which means that 88% of listed homes were sold in 2020. In 2019, that ratio was markedly lower – with 323 listings and only 237 sales, that works out to just 64% of listed homes selling.

There’s one last set of numbers I’ll toss in: homes sold in Aptos in just 28 days on average in 2020, compared to an average of 52 days in 2019, a decrease of 46% in time on market. Not only did homes sell much more quickly in 2020, they also sold much closer to list price. In 2020, homes sold on average for 99.7% of asking price; in 2019, the average was 96.7%, a whopping 3% lower.

505 Los Arboles sold for the median price of $1,175,000 in February of 2020

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!

What to Expect in 2021

Forecasting the future is a risky business, because anything could happen. At this point however it does seem clear that the Trump presidency has ended, and President Biden is seeking to inject extraordinary levels of stimulus into the economy, to ward off a long and deep recession, such as the Obama/Biden administration inherited in 2009 when they took office. This stimulus should help to achieve a high level of GDP growth in 2021; Goldman Sachs is predicting a 6.6% increase in GDP.

As mentioned in the beginning of this article, one factor driving consumer demand for real estate is the record-low mortgage interest rate. The California Association of REALTORS is forecasting that for all of 2021, the mortgage interest rate will average 3.1%, a historically very low number. 30 year fixed are mortgage rates today are around 2.5%, so it can be expected that rates will rise in the coming months, especially if the GDP does in fact grow at anything close to the 6.6% that Goldman Sachs is forecasting.

A rebounding economy and cheap money should be exactly the fuel that’s needed to keep buyers writing generous offers on homes for sale in Aptos. The demand for Aptos homes is therefore expected to remain strong; what’s more of a question is the supply of homes for buyers to choose from in 2021.

The short supply of homes has been a considerable factor driving the price increases in 2020. With so few homes available relative to the number of sales, buyers have engaged in merciless bidding wars for homes, driving prices higher. The question for 2021 is: will supply finally open up enough to tip the market balance in favor of buyers?

There are two prominent reasons this might happen. The first is that Biden may not be able to get enough stimulus through congress. GDP may not rise; it could in fact shrink. Likewise, unemployment – already up sharply due to the pandemic – could rise as well. So far, those who have lost their jobs are not primarily in the category of jobs which support home-buying, but if these higher paying jobs are lost, it would have the effect of both driving more homes onto the market while removing buyers from the market at the same time.

Another big wildcard is California Proposition 19, which was passed by voters 2020. This allows homeowners aged 55 or older to move their property tax basis to another county in the state. Many homeowners have been reluctant to sell their homes for fear of losing their low tax basis, trapping owners in homes which no longer meet their needs.

Proposition 19 will come into full effect on April 1, just in time for the spring market. The California Association of REALTORS is projecting that Prop 19 will lead to 10% more real estate sales. The question for the Aptos real estate market is: will Prop 19 mean more people will be leaving, or more will be coming? Or will there be a roughly equal number of those coming and going, resulting in negligible effect on supply, demand, and sale price?

815 Encino Drive sold for $470,000 in June of 2020, the lowest sale price in Aptos in 2020

The Bottom Line

One important thing to keep in mind about real estate markets is that they generally do not change overnight. People plan for months, or even years, to buy or sell a home. Markets maintain a certain momentum, and right now, there is considerable wind in the sails of the Aptos real estate market. Barring any major unforeseen events, the Aptos real estate market should be expected to perform well, at least for the first half of the year.

However, it’s quite likely that the market will remain strong throughout all of 2021. Indeed, Zillow is forecasting that the Aptos real estate market will see price increases of 11.4% in the coming year. If you’re thinking of selling your Aptos home in 2021, it looks as though you couldn’t have lucked upon a better year to do so.

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.

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: real estate

Ultra-Premium Affordable Home Debuts in Aptos

January 29, 2020 by Seb Frey

Affordable New Home in Aptos Pines

The future of affordable housing is here, and it’s at the Aptos Pines Mobile Home Park. Local company Joy Line Homes is offering the home for sale, and it’s unlike anything you’ve likely ever seen in a mobile home park, anywhere. The home consists of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,640 square feet and is currently listed at $639,000.

$639,000 might not sound very affordable, but for a brand new home of this size in Aptos, it would be almost impossible to imagine something like this selling for anything less than $900,000. Of course, Aptos Pines Mobile Home Park isn’t in a prime bay bluff neighborhood like, say, Rio del Mar – but it is a park where the you own the land, too. That keeps the HOA fee low (about $165/month) and provides significant appreciation in value over time.

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!

Even at the asking price, many people prospective Aptos home buyers would consider it to be at least a relatively affordable home – but it is nothing like any affordable home most people have ever seen. It has a stunning design and feels almost like a luxury home – more so than all but some of the finest in Aptos.

The home boasts:

  • 3,250sf deeded lot
  • Clean lines, high ceilings, open floor plan, and custom features throughout
  • Chef’s dream kitchen with quartz-slab waterfall countertops, expansive island with sink and eat-in bar, built-in gas cooktop, stainless steel appliances
  •  Courtyard-style front deck
  • Generously sized master suite with a glass-walled bathroom, walk-in shower, and large walk-in closet
  • Office/Den/3rd bedroom with distinctive glass partition wall! 

Catch Episode 50 of the Bay to Bay Podcast with special guest Ben West, founder of Joy Line Homes! Click here to have a listen

While $639,000 is obviously out of reach for many buyers, the price is due in large part to the cost of the land. Ben West, the home’s designer and founder of Joy Line Homes, says most homes he delivers end up costing around $150 per square foot, delivered, installed, and finished on-site. This is a dramatically lower cost than for “stick-built” homes, which often end up costing $350-$450 per square foot (excluding land, permitting, and other soft costs).

Santa Cruz County has recently relaxed restrictions on the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and in fact they have waived permit fees for accessory dwelling units. Many Aptos and Santa Cruz home owners are considering constructing a “granny flat” in the back yard. At $150 per square foot, a 640sf ADU should be able to be built for just over $100,000.

The way we build housing in California is changing, and it is exciting to see that a local company is out in the forefront, bringing innovative solutions to our address our acute housing crisis.

Click the Image Below to see the Listing Details

21 Eugenia Avenue, Aptos, CA 95003

Joy Line Homes – The Pines Video Tour

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

21 Eugenia Ave – Photo Slideshow Gallery

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: affordable housing, real estate

Poll Predicts Higher Aptos Real Estate Prices in 2019

January 27, 2019 by Seb Frey

A poll was recently conducted on the neighborhood web site NextDoor, asking Aptos residents what they thought would happen to Aptos home prices in 2019. After a month, 42 responses to the survey were recorded. The results might surprise you: the NextDoor poll predicts higher real estate prices.

Of course, in no way should this poll be considered to be scientific. Online polls are notorious, in fact, for being unreliable. But given the fact that there appears to have been no
“poll-stuffing” with this particular poll, it may be a good barometer of sentiment among the Aptos community for home prices in 2019.

The Poll, open to all NextDoor users in zip code 95003, asked this question:

While California as a whole is expected to see lower home prices in 2019 compared to 2018, how do you think home prices in Aptos will change?

The #1 answer given, by 35% of respondents, was that Aptos real estate prices were expected to rise 2-5%. The second most popular response, given by 16% of survey participants, was that home prices would be lower by 2-5%.

The full survey responses are here:

  • Flat – No Change in Home Prices: 14%
  • Down 0-1%: 0%
  • Down 2-5%: 16%
  • Down 5-10%: 9%
  • Down more than 10%: 4%
  • Up 0-1%: 4%
  • Up 2-5%: 35%
  • Up 5-10%: 9%
  • Up more than 10%: 4%

Overall it seems that the Aptos community feels confident that the real estate market will remain stable with gradual appreciation for the rest of 2019, with only 29% of respondents predicting that Aptos real estate and home prices will decreaseĀ  even a small amount.

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: home prices, real estate

Home Seller Seminar Comes to Aptos in January 2019

September 21, 2018 by Seb Frey

This coming January 24th, 2019 local author and real estate broker Sebastian “Seb” Frey will be putting on a “Savvy Seller Seminar” for home owners thinking about selling their homes in 2019. This novel home seller seminar will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at the Best Western Seacliff Inn (home to Severino’s Bar and Grill) on Old Dominion Court, just off Highway 1 / State Park Drive, across from the Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center.

The seminar will be fun, fast-paced and very informative. The goal of the seminar is to teach attendees how to achieve four simple objectives for a successful home sale:

  1. Maximize the Sale Price
  2. Minimize the Costs of Sale
  3. Speed the Sale Process
  4. Mitigate Risk

The presentation will be given by a number of speakers with years of experience in their respective fields. Topics that will be explored include:

  • Current Market Statistics
  • Ninja Marketing and advertising tactics
  • Staging Your Home to Sell Quickly at Peak Pricing
  • Disclosure Requirements
  • Key Features of the Listing Agreement
  • Key Features of the Purchase Agreement
  • What to know about the Appraisal Process
  • Buyer’s Contingencies and Inspections Purchase
  • What Makes Deals Fail

Ticketing Information

Tickets are available at no charge on EventBrite – but hurry, seats are limited and are expected to fill quickly. Limit two tickets per person, and include snacks, drinks, end eligibility to win any of several door prizes.

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

Filed Under: Events, News, Real Estate Tagged With: real estate

Aptos Summer 2018 Real Estate Wrap-Up

August 29, 2018 by Seb Frey

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. Ā It’s proof that the fall season is just around the corner, making this the perfect time to give you theĀ 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. Ā 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. Ā 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. Ā 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. Ā 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. Ā And here, we do see something that’s maybe a little alarming for home owners thinking of selling their house: Ā 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.

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

Aptos by the Numbers

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

July 2018

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

June 2018

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

May 2018

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

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: Aptos Village, real estate

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.Ā  There’s mixed news for home owners thinking about selling:Ā  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?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: real estate

Podcast features Guests from Aptos

February 12, 2018 by Seb Frey

The Bay to Bay Podcast shines a spotlight on life in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay region of California. Produced by local REALTOR Sebastian “Seb” Frey, this groundbreaking podcast features guests who hail primarily from the area. Guests on the show share information about matters affecting those of us who live in or visit he area.

Recently, two guests from Aptos appeared on the podcast. The first was Kristina Campbell, a local real estate appraiser and also Aptos resident. Kristina answered all manner of questions about real estate appraisal, and cited many examples of appraisal work in local Aptos neighborhoods. Anyone thinking of buying, re-financing, or selling a home in Aptos would do well to listen to this informative episode.

In the most recent episode of the podcast, Aptos archaeologist Dustin McKenzie of the Cabrillo College anthropology department talked about local archaeology. How long have humans lived in our area? Where did they come from? What was their culture like? Where can we go to see traces of the people who lived in California in ancient times? Anyone interested in our area’s history will find this to be an interesting and entertaining episode to listen to.

What’s a podcast? A podcast is like a radio show, only it doesn’t broadcast over the air. Rather, the audio from each podcast is stored on the Internet and is typically downloaded or streamed to a device such as an iPod (hence the name, Podcast), iPhone, tablet, or other mobile device. Many people enjoy podcasts as they commute to or from work, at the gym, or around the house. There are thousands of podcasts available on every imaginable topic. They can easily be found in on-line directories, such as the iTunes Store, Stitcher Radio, and the Google Play.

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

Filed Under: Lifestyle, News Tagged With: archaeology, podcast, real estate

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?

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.

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. Ā These prices aren’t an anomaly – upper-end homes in Aptos are selling, comprising about half the market.

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!

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?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

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

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: March 2017, real estate

Aptos Real Estate Broker Writes New Book: Get It Sold!

March 7, 2017 by Seb Frey

Get It Sold! By Sebastian “Seb” Frey

Local Aptos real estate broker Sebastian “Seb” Frey has written a new book: Get It Sold!, which is his unique perspective on the fine art of home sales. While there are hundreds of books written on this very topic, relatively few are written which focus on just the northern California region. And this may be the only book written by a Santa Cruz-based real estate broker which focuses squarely on the needs of Santa Cruz county area home owners.

The book is designed to be an easy read – at just 110 pages, it can be absorbed in just an hour or two. It maintains a conversational style throughout, to help keep the reader engaged and turning pages. The goal for the book is simple: to show home owners what they can do to sell their home quickly, but for the absolute highest price the market will bear. And of course, with the least amount of hassle, risk, and uncertainty.

According to Seb, “In a hot real estate market such as we’re currently experiencing in Aptos, there’s a misperception that all you need to do to sell your home for a crazy high price is just jack the asking price up a notch or two above what the neighbor’s house sold for, put a for sale sign in the front yard, throw it on the MLS, and wait for the bidding war to ensue. But it doesn’t work like that!”

Get It Sold! takes readers through the whole process of getting homes sold at peak pricing. It starts by discussing the decision to sell, then moves on to getting the home prepared for sale, staging for maximum appeal, creating and executing a full-blown, attention-getting marketing campaign, and covers savvy negotiation techniques to wring out the maximum sale price of the property.

The book is available on Amazon.com for $12.95, but it is being made available to Aptos-area home owners for free – and Seb even covers shipping and handling! To order your copy Get It Sold! with free shipping, click this link. Happy reading!

Get It Sold! Launch Party Video

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.

Filed Under: Lifestyle, News Tagged With: get it sold, real estate

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?

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.


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?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

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?


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!

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

Filed Under: News, Real Estate Tagged With: December 2016, real estate

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Brought to you by

Sebastian "Seb" Frey
Sebastian "Seb" Frey
This site is developed, maintained, and edited by Sebastian "Seb" Frey, Aptos RealtorĀ® and author of Get It Sold!. If you'd like to have your business, event, or issue featured here, please contact me at (831) 704-6873.

Seen SebFrey.TV?

As Seen on SebFrey.TV

Aptos Home Search






Search Aptos Community News

Pages

  • Aptos on NextDoor
  • Aptos Points of Interest
  • Aptos Videos on YouTube
  • Neighborhoods of Aptos, California
    • Day Valley
    • Mar Vista Neighborhood of Aptos
    • Rio del Mar
    • Seacliff Neighborhood of Aptos
    • Seascape in Aptos
    • Seascape Uplands
    • Vienna Woods
  • Projects
    • Aptos Village Redevelopment
    • Aptos Water Supply Improvement
    • Highway 1 Widening
    • Mar Vista Bridge
    • Par 3 Golf Course in Aptos
    • Rancho del Mar Redevelopment
    • Santa Cruz Rail Trail in Aptos
    • Seacliff Village Redevelopment

Latest Places

January 2021 Aptos Real Estate Update

If you ask around, you’ll find very few people who are sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. In so many respects, it was an absolutely awful year, for our community and the country as a whole. At the time of this writing, the nation records its 400,000th death attributed to COVID – with […]

University of Hawaii Hilo Performing Arts Center

Copyright © 2023 Sebastian "Seb" Frey. Please see my Privacy Policy. and browse the HTML Site Map
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.