The latest trends in the Scotts Valley real estate market have made the move-up buyers who are needing more space take note as interest rates have stayed low, while townhouses and condos are a hot commodity, as are homes in the $800,000- price range while higher end homes stay on the market longer. Move-up buyers that have a home to sell that is either a townhouse, condo or single-family home in the $800,000- are in a good position to take advantage of what the market is doing at the moment as they see a strong demand for their homes while seeing a fair amount of inventory and negotiation opportunities in the price range they are moving up to.

Earlier this year this was not always as easy for move-up buyers as the market was so active that many home sellers did not want to even consider an offer where the buyer still had a home to sell as there were many buyers willing to buy with little and even no contingencies. But the tables have turned and now home sellers are paying attention and even welcoming offers from contingent buyers who have homes to sell in the lower price sector because chances are that the buyer’s home will sell before the higher end home sells.

At this moment, as of this writing, there are a total of 43 single-family homes for sale in the 95066 zip code. 53% are in active status, while 47% are in pending status, meaning they have an offer that has been accepted and the property is in escrow. It seems to be a pretty good statistic as a whole. But when you break it down by price ranges, the story changes.

For Example:

SF Homes $800,000-
Of all 17 single-family homes under $800,000, 6 of them are active (35%) and 11 are pending (65%).

SF Homes $800-1,000,000
Of all 7 homes in the price range of $800-1,000,000, 5 of them are still active (71%) while 2 are pending sales (65%).

SF Homes $1 million+
A good portion of the single-family homes are now in the $1 million plus range with that price range representing 44% of all single-family homes in the market. In this price range, there are 19 homes with 12 being in active status (63%) and 7 being in pending status (37%).

Townhouses and Condos
The townhouse and condo market have been hot all year and actually has been hot for a few years now. Currently there are a total of 7 townhouses and condos on the market with only 2 still being available and in active status (29%) and 5 already pending (71%).

So when home sellers in the higher price points see offers that are contingent upon the buyers’ home selling and it is in a hot price point, its a no-brainer for many of them.

Interest Rates Stay Low
As interest rates continue to stay low, the “payment shock” that move-up buyers sometimes experience is not that 14deerfieldadshocking at all as lower rates equal lower payments. I am pretty much done predicting what interest rates will do because each and every year they have defied “expert opinions” and have stayed at historically low rates. The difference is that we are in an election year where interest rates tend to stay low. But even then, its tough to say if they will stay where they are, come down even more or finally start to move upwards once the election is over.

Since I can only say with utmost certainty that todays interest rates are fantastic, I will say it… Today’s interest rates are fantastic.

“Yesterday (09/07/2016) I locked in a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 3.125% with no points and the lender even giving a $600 credit”, said Lynn Bridges of Bay Equity Home Loans in Scotts Valley. 

When I talk to other lenders, I get the same feedback.

What To Do?
So when potential move-up buyers look at all the scenarios presented to them as written above, they can see that the market is indeed ripe and the timing could not be better to finally make that move. The question is, will they finally pick the fruit in time?

Happy Selling and Happy Buying!

DSC05907Robert 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/Testimonials

Robert Aldana is a 30+ 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.

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, RealtyTimes.comForbes.com, among many other real estate and finance news sites and publications.