Bidding For Homes: Up To $200,000 Over Asking Price, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS Bidding For Homes: Up To $200,000 Over Asking Price

By Jondi Gumz

Home 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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“COVID Update” from page 6

Scotts Valley will survey parents in May about their desires for fall. Krause has yet to hear on Scotts Valley’s request for a waiver to avoid extending the school year for days lost during the CZU fires; expect an announcement soon.

Scotts Valley High School was one of three vaccine clinic sites for students 16 to 18 arranged by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education with Dignity Health, Dominican Hospital, county Public Health, Salud Para La Gente and Safeway.

Clinics this week have Pfizer vaccine, enough for 1,800 students. If vaccine for students age 12 to 15 is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education will work on vaccine clinics for them.

The vaccine is free and voluntary. Parental consent is required, with families notified via email.

The superintendents’ letter states: “We are committed to ensure that all families and students have access to vaccination regardless of income level, ZIP code, immigration status and /or whether have health insurance or not.”

They expressed optimism the pandemic would continue to subside as more people get vaccinated and encouraged families to keep wearing masks, physical distancing and following quarantine and isolation protocols if exposed or infected to prevent the virus from spreading. (The letter also provided eight resources, in wake of the guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin, who is white, in the murder of George Floyd, who was black, for conversations about race.)

No School Transmission

Sam Rolens, spokesman for Santa Cruz City Schools, reported in his first weekly video news update on Facebook “the steadily improving picture of the pandemic locally,” with half of the county’s eligible population has received one shot, and more than a third fully vaccinated.

Even with elementary students back on campus five days a week, there have been zero cases of on-campus spread in Santa Cruz City Schools, he said, noting exposures and cases are tracked on the district website.

New air filtration systems have been installed at schools in preparation for the fall, he added.

Cabrillo College will host a virtual commencement ceremony at 4 p.m. Friday, May 21. The community at large is invited, and graduates are welcome to celebrate on social media.

Gov. Newsom, who is being subjected to recall, aims to fully reopen the state June 15, allowing conventions to resume with attendance capped 5,000.

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Cleared

On April 23, federal regulators ended the 10-day pause on the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, begun after 6.8 million doses to investigate after six women under age 50 had blood clots in the brain and one died.

A new warning on the label will warn about this uncommon, but potentially deadly, effect.

Dr. Gail Newel, Santa Cruz County health officer, agreed with eight health officers in the Bay Area agreed that the risk of developing the rare clotting disorder is extremely low. They issued a press release comparing the risk of dying from COVID-19 if you have a confirmed case as 1 in 56 to the risk of injury from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as 7 cases per million doses among women between

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hiring bonus for new employees 18 and 49 and 2 cases per million doses overall.

Johnson & Johnson supplied only 4 percent of the California’s vaccines, and Santa Cruz County responded by substituting the two-shot vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has two advantages — one shot is needed instead of two and it doesn’t require extremely cold storage like the others.

Vaccine Reward: No Mask Outdoors

On April 27, the federal Centers for Disease Control issued new guidelines on wearing masks to prevent COVID spread, saying fully vaccinated people can skip the mask outdoors — unless they’re in a big crowd.

President Biden remarked on the change, saying it’s a new reason to get vaccinated. He told the Associated Press, “If you’re vaccinated, you can do more things.”

To look for a vaccine sign up at www. MyTurn.ca.gov.

Most but not all health providers are on this platform. Or go to santacruzhealth. org, click on vaccines. Another source, supported by the federal Centers for Disease Control, is www.vaccinefinder.org.

Santa Cruz County health officials have prioritized equity, allocating 60 percent of its doses for the greater Watsonville area and its Latinx community, which has seen the most cases.

The Santa Cruz County Office of Education has a vaccine campaign in Spanish at 831-466-5906.

The Toll

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 60,000 Californians.

Deaths in Santa Cruz County have leveled off at 204, with 50 percent of deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, a percentage that was higher early in the pandemic.

Locally, 79 percent of those who died were age 70 or older and 77 percent had other health conditions – those percentages have remained stable.

A year after the pandemic began, with 29 million vaccine doses administered and case rates plummeting, 13 counties are in the Red Tier and 41 in the Orange Tier.

On Thursday, Santa Cruz County reported only three people hospitalized with COVID, none in intensive care. ••• County COVID Deaths 204

As of April 28 Age 90 and up: 56 • 80 to 89: 62 • 70 to 79: 43 60 to 69: 27 • 50 to 59: 5 • 40 to 49: 7 30 to 39: 4

Race/Ethnicity White: 114 • Latinx: 73 • Asian: 15 Black: 1 • Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 1 Underlying Conditions Yes: 158 • No: 46

Gender Male: 100 • Female: 104

Skilled Nursing/Residential Care Santa Cruz Post Acute: 20 Watsonville Post Acute: 18 Pacific Coast Manor: 14 Hearts & Hands Post Acute: 8 Sunshine Villa: 7 • Aegis: 4 Maple House 1: 4 Valley Convalescent: 4 Watsonville Nursing Center: 4 Montecito Manor: 3 • De Un Amor: 2 Dominican Oaks: 2 • Driftwood: 2 Hanover House: 2 • Maple House II: 2 Rachelle’s Home 1: 2 • La Posada: 1 Paradise Villa: 1 Rachelle’s Home II: 1 Valley Haven: 1 • Westwind: 1 Total: 103 Not at a facility: 101

COVID Cases by Town Aptos: 804 • Ben Lomond: 119

Boulder Creek: 148 • Capitola: 459 Felton: 154 • Freedom: 988

Santa Cruz: 3,915 • Scotts Valley: 436 Soquel: 352 • Watsonville: 8,059 Unincorporated: 254 Under investigation: 280 Total: 15,968

Source: Santa Cruz County Public Health •••

Editor’s Note: Would you like to share your family’s COVID-19 story? Email Jondi Gumz at info@cyber-times.com or call 831688-7549 x17.

For details on what can open in the Orange Tier, see https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy.