The month of May, when traditionally more homes start coming up on the market stayed true to form in comparison to the same time last year and the trend that was set so far in 2015.
Current For Sale and Pending Sales
May saw 17 new listings in comparison to 16 in May of 2014. The average list price is $862,518 for SF homes and 7 are already pending sales.
Currently there are 53 total listings in 95066 including SF homes, condos and townhouses. 48 are SF homes with 30 of them already being in a pending/contingent status which means that less then 38% of SF homes are still available.
The average list price for an active SF home is $913,739. The average list price for a pending/contingent property is $813,510.
Currently there are 5 condos and townhouses on MLS with 4 of the 5 already being pending/contingent and the only one still active is one that sold and just fell through, but should go pending within a short time.
Closings
May saw a total of 17 closings with 11 being SF homes and 6 being condos and townhouses.
The average list price for SF homes was $808,086 with an average sales price of $821,848. That is a robust average of 102% of sales price to list price ratio. On average, home buyers paid $13,762 above the asking price for SF homes. The average days on market was 14 days.
The condo and townhouse market was even hotter as the average list price was $605,988 and the average sales price was $625,250, which is an average of 103% list price to sales price ratio. On average, home buyers paid $19,262 above the asking price for condos and townhouses.
The Verdict
The market will continue to stay strong in Scotts Valley. Interest rates are still ridiculously low and the wave of buyers coming from Silicon Valley in search of a better quality of life and great schools will continue to keep this market active and in high demand.
If you are buying, work with a local and knowledgeable agent and know and understand what the market is doing 
before writing an offer. Verse yourself on local activity and trends and be ready to act when the right home comes along.
If you are selling, avoid the temptation to over-price your home because of the strong demand. Your home will sit longer on the market an eventually sell for less than if you priced it right from the beginning and allowed the hot market and buyers to dictate what your home is worth.
Overpricing your home will hurt you a lot more than it will help you. I like to say that you are either on the market, or in the market. Being ON the market does not take a rocket scientist. Just put a for sale sign, put it on MLS and it is on the market. Being IN the market means you are at a price point and marketing it at that price point that will get attention and lead to offers. It’s not just about price, you need to market the home successfully also, but it does start and end with price because no matter how well you market a home, it still has to be priced right.
Plus, overpricing your home helps your competition when they see another home priced where it should be and compare it to your home that is priced higher than it should be priced at. In essence, your overpriced home is being used to sell other properly priced homes. Make sure you work with a local knowledgeable agent who knows and understands local values, pricing and other market factors that only local agents know and understand.
Bottom line, you will sell your home for MORE dollars when priced right. It’s been proven time and time again.
What’s HOT!
The $700-900,000 price range is hot, provided that the home is priced right. I am seeing this price range really move rapidly while homes closer to the $1,000,000+ are taking a little longer to sell. The higher priced homes are moving, but right now the nod goes to the mid to higher mid range in terms of hot activity and demand.
Condos and townhouses are hot, really hot, when priced right. 80% of them right now are already pending/contingent.
Robert Aldana
REALTOR® since 1986
BRE # 00921165
American Dream Realty in SV
5522 Scotts Valley Drive
Scotts Valley, CA. 95066
831-252-3959 Direct Line
[email protected]
www.RobertAldana.com
Robert Aldana is a 29+ year licensed real estate veteran with American Dream Realty in Scotts Valley, and also a long-term resident and homeowner here in town. He is the founder of MyScottsValley.com and the popular local news and events page at Facebook.com/MyScottsValley.
He was voted as the “Rave” winner in the category of “Favorite Real Estate Agent” in the Scotts Valley Press Banner’s contest for 2014, and also awarded the Scotts Valley Man of the Year in 2014 for his contributions to the community.
Robert was also a nationally syndicated real estate journalist and was a highly sought after interviewee on the topic of real estate by local, national and even international media, in addition to appearing on HGTV and local NBC’s “Best of the Bay”. Many of his articles and interviews can still be read at RobertAldana.com, DeadlineNews.com, RealtyTimes.com, Forbes.com, among many other real estate and finance news sites and publications.