COMMUNITY NEWS
Bidding For Homes: Up To $200,000 Over Asking Price
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By Jondi Gumz
ome prices are going crazy in Santa Cruz County as would-be buyers bid $50,000, $100,000 and $200,000 over the asking price. In March, the median price for singlefamily homes —the midpoint of what sold -- set a new record: $1,125,000. This is according to Gary Gangnes of Real Options Realty, who has tracked the numbers for decades. He said overbidding locally reached the highest percentages ever: • 41% of the homes sold for more than $50,000 over asking price. • 26% of the homes sold for more than $100,000 over asking price. • 12% of the homes sold for more than $200,000 over asking price. Overbids persisting In Scotts Valley, a three-bedroom, twoand-a-half bathroom, 2,475-suqare-foot home at 21 Casa Way near the high school was listed for $1.475 million in March and sold for $1.91 million on April 23. A 3,054-square-foot home at 365 Eagle Crest Drive was listed for $1.45 million in March and sold for $1.5 million April 27. In Aptos, sale prices are 109 percent of the list price, according to Paul Bailey, coowner of Bailey Properties. The median home price in Santa Cruz County crossed the $1 million mark
in September before the holiday surge of COVID-19 cases and hasn’t looked back. The number of homes available for sale topped 500 in the summer of 2018 and 2019, then during the pandemic of 2020, fell far below that. As of the first week of April, there were 283 listings, an all-time low for that month, according to Gangnes, reporting that over the past 25 years, that week saw an average of 721 listings. Only 175 of the 283 listings are active, as the other 108 are under contract with a buyer, he said. “Compare 175 active listings to 147 closed sales in March, and the intense supply and demand relationship is clear,” he said. Compare this March to March a year ago, when there were 102 sales — again, a sign of intense demand. What’s driving the demand? Bailey said it’s the work-at-home trend created by the COVID-19 pandemic attracted people who work in tech and are attracted to Aptos by the schools, the neighborhoods and the beach. He’s representing the seller of 135 Seabreeze Place in Aptos, on the Seascape Golf Course, asking $1.95 million. “Overbidding” page 15
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www.tpgonlinedaily.com Scotts Valley Times / May 2021 / 7
