Santa Cruz County Trends At a Glance 
There are currently 8 blog entries related to this category.
How to Pay Off Your Santa Cruz Real Estate Mortgage Early
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 10:17am. 15 Views, 0 Comments.
Few things sound better than paying off a thirty-year Santa Cruz real estate mortgage early. Not only will you be free of mortgage payments, you could also save thousands of dollars in interest payments over the life of the loan. Here are four ideas to help you pay off your mortgage early:
1. Apply any windfall monies you receive to your mortgage balance. Be sure to indicate that this is an extra payment and should be applied exclusively to your principle.
2. Make bi-weekly mortgage payments. Making exactly one-half payment every two weeks will add up to a total of twenty-six half payments per year. Or, thirteen whole payments each year instead of twelve. That’s the secret to paying off a Santa Cruz real estate mortgage early with bi-weekly…
Benefits of Exterior Lighting for Santa Cruz Real Estate
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 1:01pm. 19 Views, 0 Comments.
As many Santa Cruz real estate agents will tell you, curb appeal shouldn’t end when the sun goes down. Exterior lighting can be both utilitarian and create a welcoming atmosphere even at night. The huge variety in lighting types will also lend uniqueness to your property and make it stand out to potential buyers.
Benefits of Popular Lighting Types
• Reduces crime: Motion-activated flood lights on the front and back porch are essential in high-crime areas and always a good idea for any area. It’s been proven that criminals don’t like Santa Cruz real estate with bright exterior lighting. The bright lights will draw attention to visitors before they’ve ever reached your door. Additionally, you should never discount the value of being able to see clearly when…
California Housing Affordability Inches Downward
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:27am. 44 Views, 0 Comments.
Housing affordability inched downward throughout the state during the second quarter of 2009 as a result of incremental price increases and increased demand sparked by the state new-homebuyer tax credit, the California Building Industry Association said today.
The quarterly National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index found that homes were less affordable in 16 of the state’s 28 metro areas included in the report.
On a statewide basis, the HOI found that a median-income family could have afforded 62.7% of the new and existing homes that were sold during the second quarter, down from 64.4% in the first quarter.
Robert Rivinius, CBIA’s President and CEO, said the decrease in affordability could signal the bottom of the market and…
The Real Estate Report
Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 4:24pm. 45 Views, 0 Comments.
Trends At a Glance
Aug 2009Previous MonthYear-over YearMedian Price$500,000$540,391 (-7.5%)$577,150 (-13.4%)Average Price$534,600$545,152 (-1.9%)$659,537 (-18.9%)No. of Sales162178 (-9.0%)157 (+3.2%)Pending Properties365278 (+31.3%)182 (+100.5%)Active723746 (-3.1%)1,271 (-43.1%)Sale vs. List Price98.5%97.3% (+1.3%)97.3% (+1.2%)Days on Market8571 (+20.4%)71 (+19.7%)Inventory Declines, While Pending Sales Continue to Rise
Inventory of single-family, re-sale homes fell for the thirteenth month in a row in August, and it is now down 43.1% year-over-year.Pending sales, meanwhile, climbed 31.3% from July, and were up 100.5% compared to August 2008.
The median price for single-family, re-sale homes lost 7.5% in August. Year-over-year, the median price was off…
Santa Cruz County Trends At a Glance - June 2009
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 3:44pm. 44 Views, 0 Comments.
Trends At a GlanceJun 2009Previous MonthYear-over YearMedian Price$522,258$470,000 (+11.1%)$605,000 (-13.7%)Average Price$571,824$508,121 (+12.5%)$683,464 (-16.3%)No. of Sales183139 (+31.7%)154 (+18.8%)Pending Properties261262 (-0.4%)196 (+33.2%)Active741746 (-0.7%)1,271 (-41.7%)Sale vs. List Price97.8%98.0% (-0.2%)97.7% (+0.1%)Days on Market8292 (-11.1%)90 (-9.3%)
Santa Cruz County Trends At a Glance
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at 2:25pm. 54 Views, 0 Comments.
Trends At a GlanceMay 2009Previous MonthYear-over YearMedian Price$470,000$449,000 (+4.7%)$617,500 (-23.9%)Average Price$508,121$558,497 (-9.0%)$728,157 (-30.2%)No. of Sales139129 (+7.8%)126 (+10.3%)Pending Properties262246 (+6.5%)194 (+35.1%)Active746787 (-5.2%)1,240 (-39.8%)Sale vs. List Price98.0%97.2% (+0.8%)96.9% (+1.2%)Days on Market9264 (+45.2%)71 (+30.5%)
Waiting for Prices to Plummet on Homes for Sale in Santa Cruz May Be a Mistake
Wednesday, December 31st, 1969 at 6:00pm. 13 Views, 0 Comments.
If you’re looking at homes for sale in Santa Cruz, want to buy a home and are waiting around for better prices, you might want to rethink your strategy.
If you’re a market watcher, soaking up the information overload across news media and Internet websites, you’re probably overwhelmed with confusion by now. Is the housing market getting better? Is it getting worse? Was there really, when it gets down to it, a housing bubble collapse? And, if so, who popped it?
First, the quick answers. Yes, the housing bubble collapsed, and everybody had a hand in popping it: the government, the lenders, the investors and the general public. Now the hard answers: it’s getting better – and worse.
The truth is that market predictors are all on the fence. With the ARRA (American…
