Holiday Boutique at Aptos Methodist • Bay Federal Branches Go Green

Ruth Bates

831.359.2212

ruthbates1@gmail.com

CalBRE#01799929

US Mortgage Rates top 7% for fi rst time in 2 decades. Nuff said.

Aptos Sold in Past 30 days – 18 single family homes sold, with Average Days on Market (DOM) of 50 days and Median Sales List Price of $1,470,000 and Sales Price of $1,399,500, 95% of list. The high sale was 437 Beach, listed at $4,850,000 and sold after 119 DOM for $3,815,000, 70% of list. Low sale was 1110 Trout Gulch, a 1 bed, 1 bath, 532SF home sold for $633,000. One 3-bedroom condo at 2617 Willowbrook #90 sold for $835,000 after 38 days on market. 333 Granite Way townhome sold for $1,432,500 and 1113 Via Tornasol sold for $1,100,000. In the County, 103 homes sold (17 had price reductions before selling) with AVG DOM of 34 and Median Sales Price of $1,285,000. Active Listings – 24 homes are Active in Aptos as of 11/05/22. The AVG DOM for these homes is 61 days! The Median List Price is $1,647,000, which is $250K+ higher than what the Median Sales Price was last month. Only 5 homes have been on the market for less than two weeks, so homes are sitting much longer now and 12/24 (50%) have had price reductions since listing. 12 con-dos/townhomes are Active with an AVG DOM of 77 days! The market is very slowed down with very little inventory. A Historical Refl ection – Aptos AVG Sold Prices over the past 5 years are shown here. In 2017, we broke the $1,000,000 barrier, 2018 jumped a splish, 2019 had a slight correction back to $1M, then covid hit in 2020 and AVG jumped to $1,250,000+, 2021 jumped again to $1,400,000+, and early 2022 drove us up to $1,700,000. So growth from 2020 to 2022 was 40%, and 4-yer growth was 70%!! There does appear to be room for correction. The winter market is historically slow, and much will happen with our economy, government, and worldwide changes and between now and the Spring. But as they say, “hope springs eternal”. ——— Happy Thanksgiving.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Holiday Boutique at Aptos Methodist

Aptos United Methodist Church is hosting its ninth annual Holiday Boutique Saturday, November 26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the church campus, 221 Thunderbird Drive, Aptos/ Seascape. Handcrafted items created by local artists will be featured. The boutique provides customers with an opportunity to buy unique holiday gifts at very reasonable prices.

Signs will be placed to guide people from Highway 1 to the church campus. Items offered for sale will include beaded jewelry, fused and slumped glass jewelry and dishes, glass wind chimes, window jewelry, Christmas shell ornaments and paper ornaments.

A variety of mosaic and wooden items will include cutting boards, trays, lazy susans, and planters. Soy candles will emit welcoming aromas. Original cards, prints, collages, and stationery will be on sale. Children’s blankets, crinkle toys and books written and autographed by Stephen Kellogg will be available.

Clothes items will include knitted scarves, gloves and hats, Minky scarves, and scarves and wraps made out of vintage Japanese kimonos. Needlefelted figures and wearable art will be offered.

Other fabric items on sale will include braided baskets and rugs, coasters, aprons, oven potholders and mitts, eyeglass cases, bags and totes.

Foods on sale will include breads, cookies, jams and toffee. Church members are making jams and baked goods for customers to take home and enjoy. Dog biscuits for your pets also are being baked.

The church will have both poinsettias and cyclamen on sale to decorate homes for the holidays. Many of the vendors are making Christmas decorations for sale in addition to their primary art offerings. Plants on sale will include succulents in pots.

Local artists showing at the boutique include Shirley Anderson, Chris Brown, Carmen Bryant, Barbara Coy-Bulicz, Vickie Crane, Aaron Del Carlo, Barbara Ginsberg, Christina Gustafson, Camilla Henneman, Melanie Kellogg Larson, Lee MacDonell, Coni McNair, Deborah Miller, Jerry Miller, Crecia Munson, Lisa Pizzo, Christina Robert, Kirsti Scott, Jeanine Speckman, and Katharine Verhagen.

The Aptos UMC Holiday Boutique is known as a “one stop” shopping opportunity as you can find gifts for everyone at this locale.

Customers come from throughout Santa Cruz County to find unique gifts for special people while enjoying the warm welcome from volunteers and artists and the beautiful view of Monterey Bay seen from the church campus. n

Barbara Coy-Bulicz is a church member, boutique chair and an artist who creates paper collages, boxes, ornaments.

Bay Federal Branches Go Green

Bay Federal Credit Union has transformed its Aptos, Freedom, Salinas and Watsonville branches, garnering Green Business certifications and joining 4,500 businesses in the California Green Business Network.

The conversion, which involved implementing 50-plus sustainable measures, established a blueprint for Bay Federal to “Go Green” with its entire branch network.

“Bay Federal is committed to being a good environmental steward,” said Carrie Birkhofer, Bay Federal’s president and CEO. “We’re pledging to bring all of our branches into the California Green Business Network in the coming months.”

Micah Arnold, facilities senior project coordinator, spearheaded Bay Federal’s participation in the green business programs.

“Because we have multiple locations and departments, 240 employees, and financial regulations that we’re required to meet, we had to methodically assess each measure and then plan accordingly,” Mr. Arnold said. “The bonus is that this will allow us to certify our other locations faster.” Arnold and his team worked with Jakki CastorenaDavila, a bilingual sustainability consultant with the CGB Network, to ensure Bay Federal’s success.

“We all have to deal with climate change, and this is a way that businesses can reduce their environmental impact,” Castorena-Davila said.

Santa Cruz County now has 325 businesses in the Califonria Green Business Network. Combined, they have: • Saved over 2.7 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions • Saved over 1.7 million kilowatt hours of energy • Saved over 4.5 million gallons of water • Saved over 2,000 gallons of fuel

Arnold encourages business owners on the fence about joining the program to just dive in and apply.

“You’ll have many resources to help you to certify,” Mr. Arnold said. “Whether you’re concerned about how using nontoxic cleaning products will impact your operations or you’re unsure how to implement the changes — or even how you will fund the changes — your program coordinator will hold your hand through the entire process.” n •••

Info: http://www.greenbusinessca.org.

Micah Arnold