Santa Cruz California Home Sale Price Medians by City
Santa Cruz County Home Sales Recorded in November 2008
Reporting resale single family residences and condos as well as new homes

TABLE OF SOLD PROPERTIES PER COUNTY
County / City / Area	No. Sold	November 2008	November 2007	% Change Yr.to Yr.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY	113	$386,500	$674,500	-42.70%
APTOS	11	$593,000	$786,500	-24.60%
BEN LOMOND	2	$383,000	$635,000	-39.69%
BOULDER CREEK	3	$330,000	$425,000	-22.35%
CAPITOLA	7	$339,000	$749,500	-54.77%
FELTON	5	$250,000	$367,500	-31.97%
FREEDOM	3	$365,000	n/a	n/a
Mount Hermon	2	$396,000	n/a	n/a
SANTA CRUZ	26	$587,500	$700,000	-16.07%
SCOTTS VALLEY	6	$530,250	$679,000	-21.91%
SOQUEL	3	$440,000	$672,500	-34.57%
WATSONVILLE	46	$327,500	$560,000	-41.52%

 

The home sales have slowed predictably in November. The trend is still with the sales volume higher in Watsonville as the home prices are affordable to the populace and investors. With the low interest rates, this is the time to buy and many people have heard the word. If you are considering buying a home in Watsonville, check out what is for sale or call Gregg for the best deals on foreclosures and beach homes in the Santa Cruz area at 831-818-7524

If you have had the unfortunate pleasure of  a family member with Alzheimers,' you know it is a disease that affects more and more of us. This is one of those diseases that is tragic in more ways than most because it is a disease that robs the living almost as much as the afflicted, emotionally, physically and monetarily. For an interactive tour of what goes on in the brain of an Alzheimers patient check out the link. It is pretty informative.

Today is National Memory Screening Day ,follow the link to see the closest location for you for screening today November 18th, 2008. There is no location in Santa Cruz, California, but nearby in Freedon,Ca you can take you loved one for testing today at

Where	Kmart Pharmacy
Location of Screening:	1702 Freedom Blvd Freedom, California, 95019
Time of Screening:	9:00AM-1:00PM
Phone Number:	831-728-9324

As a Seniors Real Estate Specialist, ( SRES) care and concern for our elders is important. If you think your senior is getting more forgetful, here are some warning signs for Alzheimers. To see how you can help  in our community of Santa Cruz, contact the local NorCal Alzheimers Association.831.464.9982 Alzheimers is one of the charities that I support. If you want to support me on my Alzheimers memory walk

If you have a parent and are considering placing them in a care facility or want to find Santa Cruz home that will have a separate living unit, contact me at www.propertyinsantacruz.com

 

Marianne's is one of my favorite local ice creams in Santa Cruz, Ca. The store has one public location that has been there for as long as I can remember, so at least 30 years. The place is a garish red, never has enough parking, but always has a steady patronage. It has enough flavors to give almost anyone a smile.If you get brain freeze, there is a nice little coffee shop across the street to warm you back up, too.

Their location on Ocean street is a great one, for the tourists heading home back to Silicon Valley, though. They make a wide variety of flavors you just don't find everywhere. A few of my favorites are bittersweet chocolate, and Mexican chocolate. The latter has cinnamon in with the chocolate and is a great combination. Another I like is the lavender.Another one you never find that I like is cardamom and pistachio.Mmmmm good.

The use quality ingredients, I suspect the lavender is from Bonny Doon, but that is a guess.They have whole sale accounts, and at the location I frequent, at Deluxe Foods in Aptos, they unfortunately get what they get.No rhyme or reason from what I am told, of what you will find.I guess in a way, it is sort of like a box of cracker jacks, you find the prize inside and don't know what it will be from the outside.

The rumors are false though that it has sold. It is for sale for a reported $1.4M, and like any business, value is based in large part to income and sales. If you are a serious business buyer contact me and we can investigate further to see if this is a fit for you. For those who want a business that has a local flavor and good following, this could be your scoop. To get the address and tele # of Marianne's Ice Cream click here.

To see homes within walking distance of this East Santa Cruz location follow the link and explore around Santa Cruz. This could be a great business opportunity for someone to live nearby and walk to work doing a job where everyone loves your work. Then again the production plant is on the West Side Santa Cruz area, so you may want to look over there. Have fun, and that's the scoop, still for sale and still a great place to get your licks in.

The California State University system will be the beneficiary of a new solar system deal with Sunedison, who has installed some systems for the state before, notably at CSU Chico. For us here in the Santa Cruz area, CSU Monterey Bay will get a solar system in the future.

The reason for the state to select Sunedison was their no out of pocket bid to install solar systems. The California law requiring the reduction of green house gasses will apply to the state as well.

According to the governator "California is going green and we are doing it first and we are doing it fast. With the partnership being announced today between California and SunEdison, we are seeing more tangible results and more follow through in reducing our state's carbon footprint. This partnership is a good deal for the state, the planet and our economy - all at no cost to taxpayers."

The entire UC system will benefit from this solar project. The installation,up front costs and maintenance costs are all covered by SunEdison with no out-of-pocket costs to us the tax payer. The state is essentially leasing their flat surfaces to SunEdison to install their panels. The state will pay them a fixed rate with an annual escalation for the power generated from the solar panels over the next 20 years.

This is a good synergistic project that will employ people in an emerging energy field and provide zero emission solar power systems to much of the state university's as well five state prison sites and three state mental hospitals. We sure can use the jobs and I am a believer that within the next 5 years we shall have our cars charged at home from these systems.

While the amount of power generated, when fully operational will only amount to about 20 megawatts, it is a good start. The state estimates that over the life of the system it will amount to the removal of about 48 thousand cars. This amount though large, only covers about 5% of the states CSU energy use.

So one has to figure there are good incentives to be able to foot the bill this large, and make a profit. For those of us in Santa Cruz, the local real estate market has more people interested in doing the right thing. If your Santa Cruz house does not have solar that you are buying, you can at least buy green electricity, but more on that later.

There are still plenty of good alternative energy saving ideas that one can do fairly cheaply such as change out your incandescent lamps for the CFL's ( compact florescent) in most cases. I have found that for higher wattage and smaller physical sizes that locally here in Santa Cruz, Riverside lighting has a great range of choices. If you are looking for energy efficient homes, search for Rio Del Mar homes or one of the other areas with more new construction like Soquel.

Santa Cruz is a place many of us call home or want to once you have been here. It is a place with much beauty, natural and otherwise. With the surf of Santa Cruz steamer's lane or the Pleasure Point surf break, seeing the ocean in action from a surfboard or a sail boat or from shore, evokes pleasure and peacefulness. With the current stock market crash, banking greedfest meltdown, and housing market crash, there is hope for the dreamers.

Many hope to own or live here, and with the prices soft all over, and the media rife with negativity, one gets the notion that maybe they can finally buy a Santa Cruz beach house. So clients call me and think they are going to get a cheap beach pad for half price. You see, in some of the markets they come from, values are cut in half, so their theory makes perfect sense. Problem is, they find Santa Cruz real estate is not like the other areas. When people ask me why things are so expensive, I laugh and say "it's the blue stuff" otherwise our prices would be like yours.

So what is the situation? Yes you can find properties that are a deal for here, but compared to other areas they are still expensive. Foreclosures in Watsonville dominate the sales activity. In the Santa Cruz market they pale in quantity. There are short sales and foreclosures all around, but let me give you a perspective that may put it into plain sense. According to some statistics "The price drop is most dramatic as the growth in foreclosures in the southernmost part of the county continues. One in every 150 homes in Watsonville is in foreclosure, the most in the county, while in Santa Cruz, it's one in every 1,200 homes, the least in the county.To Michael Hutchison, an economics professor at UC Santa Cruz, the market appears divided into two parts, with the lower end declining rapidly while the higher end is firmer."

So what the means is that there is great selection, which is great for a buyer, softer prices, but not flat out price plunges in Santa Cruz proper. While Watsonville, in the southern end of Santa Cruz County, is more on par with what is generally seen in much of the central valley, or some other states. You can see the Santa Cruz foreclosures and short sales in the areas that you may want to look at. With today's lending climate figure you will need at least 20% down payments for most transactions or more as an investor or second home buyer.

There are great deals for this market, but like all markets the deals vary in different price ranges. Santa Cruz real estate has held up better than most stock investments. Now is a great time to purchase a Santa Cruz home. Brokers know the values are good but getting people to get over their fear and take the plunge is difficult. We all understand the fear part, but the reality is that when things look bleakest the values are best.

Santa Cruz real estate or even Rio Del Mar real estate has not fallen as far as the stock market. So go ahead and buy a beach house. Regardless of the value up or down, I guarantee the times and memories you have at the beach with your kids and family will be priceless. Real estate is a 5-10 year investment. Don't worry about this current malaise. You will find in looking back 5 years from now the enjoyment and pleasure you will have had with a Capitola beach condo will be worth more than any stock you owned and pays better mental dividends. Joy and memories are hard to put a price on, whereas a fallen stock brings no joy, a beach home still does. Some come look around and know there are great deals and a good selection, smell the salt air and invest in a Santa Cruz beach house for the memories and returns that are more than just financial.