Are Million Dollar Homes the New Scotts Valley?

As we head towards the end of the first quarter of 2016, we continue to have a wave of buyers coming from Silicon Valley in search of more affordable housing and a better quality of life. The surge in demand from these buyers in addition to the local buyers has also caused a surge in home prices as we begin to see the making of a whole new price point in Scotts Valley with inventory showing the average list price for all active through pending single-family homes hitting a whopping $1,141,045.

Recently, a home at 7 Casa Way sold and closed for $1,900,000 this month, while another “smaller” home on the same street went on the market for $1,560,000 and went pending in just 5 days.

2 homes on Deerfield Drive recently went up on the market and both sold within days with multiple offers.

Homes in the Scotts Valley Heights are moving with one home listed at $999,000 on Suzanne Lane, selling within days with multiple offers and another going on the market in that neighborhood for $1,395,000 on Oak Creek Blvd.

The Vineyards will now cost you over $1 million in most cases, unless you buy one of the smaller 3 bedroom homes in that highly sought after development, or get lucky with a 4 bedroom under $1 million.

Monte Fiore currently has 2 homes in the $1.2-1.3 million price range that just came on the market and I expect both of them to sell within a short period of time.

As of this writing, there are a total of 38 single-family homes on the market, active through pending. 21 of them are at the $1 million price point with 17 at $1 million and over, and 4 being within $2,000 of $1 million. That is an average of 55% of homes being at or above that price point.

• Click here to download current single-family home inventory in Scotts Valley
• Click here to download current condo-townhouse inventory in Scotts Valley

Condos & Townhomes

Condos and townhomes are also experiencing a lot of activity with nine on the market and seven of those already in pending status.

Just recently, 3 townhouses went up for sale in the Town Center Development on Bluebonnet Lane in the mid $700k range and all three went pending in a relatively short amount of time.

But the condo and townhouse market has been strong in Scotts Valley for some time now, a few years now especially as the price of single-family homes has risen and buyers move to more affordable home buying options, and I expect more of the same.

What’s Affordable?

While you can definitely still buy a home in the $700-900,000 range in many areas of Scotts Valley (you most definitely can), there is a shift in price points that has most homes on the market today being at or well over the higher price point.

However, homes in the Green Hills Estates are in the $790-840,000 range and homes in Skypark are in the $790-875,000 range, all depending on bedrooms, baths, square footage and upgrades. Green Hills Estates does have a smaller floor-plan that you can buy at around $760,000.

You can also buy homes in the $700-900,000 price range in the Whispering Pines area, Granite Creek and many other areas of Scotts Valley so don’t think that if that is your budget that you are priced out, because that is not the case. There is however much more competition in this price range with other buyers.

Condos can still be bought in the mid to high $400k range with the higher end condos and townhouses which are newer and close to 2,000sf selling in the mid $700k range, specifically the Town Center Development as mentioned above.

What’s Next?

A lot of the same is what I see in this market as we have limited inventory compared to the amount of home buyers looking for a home. However, much of the conversation among some of the local real estate leaders and professionals has recently focused on whether this is now becoming the norm. Meaning, is a $1 million + average price and a continued low amount of inventory now the norm? Its not a stretch as fewer and fewer homeowners decide against selling their home and instead stay in their homes and make improvements rather than pay higher property taxes in addition to not having much to choose from should they move.

I have to think that this next 30-60 days will say a lot. If we continue to see the limited inventory and skyrocketing price points, it may not be news anymore.

Happy selling and happy buying!