About Santa Cruz's Seabright

SEABRIGHT HOME VALUES - MARKET REPORT 2011

Seabright is a great neighborhood in Santa Cruz, CA filled with charming craftsman, victorian, and beach bungalow homes. People love to live in Seabright and be able to walk to Seabright Beach, Betty's burgers, the Seabright Brewery, Java Junction, La Posta . . . Seabright is a classic California beach neighborhood. Home values in Seabright have remained fairly strong compared to many other areas over the past few years.

Let's take a look at Seabright, CA home values in 2011:

There were about 38 homes sold in Seabright in 2011 with an average sale price of $753,000. The highest priced home home sold in Seabright in 2011 was a 4500 SF oceanview, craftsman style home that sold for $2,660,000, all cash.

The lowest priced home sale in Seabright in 2011 was small, 2 bedroom foreclosure that sold for $360,000 on Frederick St.

Last year about 45% of all home sales in Santa Cruz county were short sales or foreclosures. In Seabright this rate is much lower. There were 3 Seabright foreclosure sales and 2 short sales in Seabright in 2011, which means that the percent of distressed home sales in Seabright is only 10%. That is pretty great compared to the rest of the county and the state.

Seabright is a highly desireable area. There are full-time residents, commuters, and vacation home owners. It is a great place to live and vacation and there is a large buyer pool for this area.

Contact me for more information about home values in Seabright, market trends, homes for sale in Seabright and community information.

We have homes on the Eastside of Santa Cruz priced under $800,000 that would have sold quickly for much more. Four Hundred Six South Branciforte Avenue is a beautifully kept Victorian on a quiet corner lot with wrap around gardens (award winning roses), and two den/studies. I was really taken with this house; you get a choice of bedrooms, upstairs or down, and there are three different sitting areas, so it’s possible to have a big party that would have intimate pockets for discourse. This home is located in the Seabright area, which is sought after for its proximity to the ocean, and also its own shopping and entertainment district. You can also walk to downtown or the Boardwalk from here. And if you go south, you are within minutes of the Santa Cruz Wharf and Harbor. I’m surprised this home has not sold yet. The owners have been there for many years, and they have clearly loved and cared for the home while there. Owning a Victorian is a challenge, with the aesthetic reward for your hard work in keeping things true to the vintage.

Seabright Dining:

Betty Burgers (www.bettyburgers.com)
Crow’s Nest Restaurant (www.crowsnest-santacruz.com)
Engfer Pizza Works (www.engferpizzaworks.com)
La Posta (lapostarestaurant.com)
Linda’s Seabreeze Café (www.seabreezecafe.com)
Seabright Brewery (www.seabrightbrewery.com)

David Morrell
International President’s Elite
Coldwell Banker – Santa Cruz
831-239-1255 | david@davidmorrellsc.com
www.DavidMorrellSC.com

There is a lot to do within walking distance of any house.

Seabright beach is sheltered from the prevailing wind and fog you routinely get in San Francisco and Monterey. Our summer temperature, generally in the 70s, is perfect for those folks escaping hot and humid summer weather elsewhere yet don't want to be in the cold and wind that is common to many other areas of the coast north of Santa Barbara.

Seabright Neighborhood
The Seabright Neighborhood itself is an attraction. This is a unique place to enjoy walks or bike rides. The "Point" is a wall of limestone between the San Lorenzo river and Seabright Beach. Walk out to the end and you'll see a beautiful view of the Boardwalk, Seabright Beach, the Santa Cruz Wharf, the mountains and the two lighthouses here in Santa Cruz. Walk the beach or along the cliff all the way to the harbor. You won't find any "track" houses in this neighborhood. Enjoy the little historic beach cottages with many small but spectacular flower gardens.

First of all you have one of the best beaches in California right outside your doorsteps. Seabright Beach is sometimes called "Castle Beach" by local old timers. The Scholl-Mar Castle occupied what is now the main entrance area to the beach from 1928-1967. Seabright beach is a great family beach. You can swim, bodysurf, beach comb and picnic on the beach. Volleyball courts on the sand

are available, Lifeguards are stationed on Seabright Beach during the peak summer season. At night beach fires are allowed. It's so much fun walking the 1/2 mile beach from the San Lorenzo River mouth to the Harbor Walton lighthouse.

Directions from Downtown Santa Cruz:

East on Soquel Avenue for 1 mile. Right on Seabright Avenue for 1 more mile. Right on East Cliff for 100 yards.

On the east side of Santa Cruz lies beautiful Seabright State Beach. To reach there from downtown Santa Cruz head east on Soquel Avenue (just over 1 mile) and turn right on

Seabright Avenue. One block from the water turn right on East Cliff Drive and Seabright Beach is on your left.

On your way out of downtown, stop in at The Buttery, one of the best bakeries in town, on the corner of Soquel and Branciforte Drive (5/8 mile from downtown). Try the excellent

sandwiches or black bottom cupcakes. One of our favorite things to do there is order a fresh squeezed orange juice and watch them make it with the cool Zumex machine from Spain. Also at this intersection is Shopper's Corner, the oldest family run grocery in Santa Cruz. Locals shop here for excellent wines, produce and the busy butcher shop at the back of the store.

Two Important Statistics Determining
Market Momentum
Sales momentum for single-family, re-sale homes in Santa Cruz County dipped into negative territory in September for the first time since January 2009. This trend continued in October.

We calculate...

sales momentum by using a 12-month moving average to eliminate seasonality. By comparing this year's 12-month moving average to last year's, we get a percentage showing market momentum.

In the chart below...

are two of the most important statistics determining market momentum. The blue shows momentum for home sales while the red line shows momentum for pending home sales.

Sales momentum peaked in July and has been trending down ever since. Pending sales, which normally track closed sales closely, have jumped out of the norm due to the large number of foreclosure and short sales in the past two years.

In a normal market...

pending sales close within 60 days. In today's market, pending sales are taking much longer due to the high number of foreclosure and short sales, which require lender approval. This has pumped up the number of pending sales, which, in a normal market would indicate increasing sales in the coming two months. But, because a majority of pending sales are foreclosure or short sales, a greater potion of these sales never close.

Pricing momentum...

on the other hand, generally lags the buying and selling indicators provided by the sales momentum trend. In the chart below, the purple line shows the median price momentum indicator.

As you can see, when the sales momentum indicator changed to a sell signal in May 2005, prices didn't peak until November, when they started a gradual decline. The median price indicator really started falling when it crossed the 0 axis in February 2008.

The sales momentum indicator hit its low in June 2008 then started turning up, but the price indicator kept falling until sales momentum's next peak in May 2009, when pricing momentum started picking up.

More statistics...

The median sales price for single-family, re-sale homes was down, year-over-year, for the fourth month out of the past five. The median price was down 0.8%.

Inventory turned downward, as is its wont this time of year, dropping 8.9% from September. Year-over-year, inventory was up for the fifth month in a row: 21.3%.

The sales price to list price ratio was down 0.7 of a point to 96%. The ratio's median since 2003 is 97.9%.

Remember, the real estate market is a matter of neighborhoods and houses. No two are the same.

For complete information on a particular neighborhood or property, call (831) 247-9140.

Statistics: Tracking Momentum

As we mentioned last month, the Internet is strewn with statistics, some good, some bad, and some downright ugly. So, what are statistics for?

Statistics are for...

determining the best time to buy or sell real estate. If the statistics you are tracking do that, they're good. If they don't, they're misleading, at best.

Tracking momentum...

is the best way to determine when to buy or sell real estate. The question becomes which statistics to track.

Robert Campbell, a San Diego based real estate investor, in his 2004 book "Timing the Real Estate Market", lists five "vital signs" he tracks to time the market, in order from strongest to weakest:

1. Existing home sales

2. New home building permits

3. Mortgage loan defaults

4. Foreclosure sales, and

5. Interest rates

He uses the same basic formula for all five: (current 12-month moving average-previous 12-month moving)/current 12-month moving average.

Finding the data...

means tapping into a variety of sources.

Sales data is the easiest to track. Local newspapers publish this data each month. If you want historical sales data, you can call us and we'll provide it for you.

In California, new home building permits are tracked by the Construction Industry Research Board. The board charges for their data. (http://cirbdata.com)

There are a variety of sources for mortgage loan default and foreclosure sales data starting with the county recorder's office. Other sources, for which you will have to pay are: http://dataquick.com, and http://foreclosureradar.com.

Interest rate data can be had at a number of different sites: http://hsh.com, http://bankrate.com, orhttp://federalreserve.gov. While Campbell tracks 1-year t-bills, monthly mortgage rates can also be used.

Next month, we will review the timing method Craig Hall uses in his 2003 book, "Timing the Real Estate Market: How to Buy Low and Sell High in Real Estate."

This author identifies seven trends to track to determine when real estate cycles are about to turn.

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To search for Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay properties go to, www.SusanGrant.biz, www.SantaCruzAvoidForeclosure.com or contact Susan Grant directly at (831) 247-9140.

Susan Grant, David Lyng Real Estate, Santa Cruz & the Monterey Bay Coast

DRE#01331769

Visionary Cash Buyer Turns Dump To Lovely Duplex on Seabright Ave

One of my specialties as a Realtor is finding a property that generates good cash flows for investors. The property shown here is an example.  I can find you a great property too.  go to Foreclosures, fixers, and Short Sales and there I will help you find homes available now and that have not even hit the market yet. More about Seabright neighborhood and the big fixer upper that was turned into a very profitable, positive cash generating income property.

This is the before and after story that will amaze you on how well it has turned out. This went from the "Mystery House" to the hip beach duplex that is for rent in Seabright. You can watch the before the remodel videos and look at the before and after photos.  They tell the story of dump to high profitability in just two months!

In the beginning this property didn't even have a foundation, the doors and windows didn't open because the floor was very uneven.  Some rooms had a 12 inch difference in floor height. This was no project for a handyman, it would be a real savvy buyer that could spot the potential on this one.

It looks like a typical Yacht Harbor Beach house from the outside when the property was listed for sale. It is only two blocks from the beach and two blocks from the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. The picture below is of the second unit with just one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen. It had two doors going outside that had a sign on them to do not open because you could not get them close again. This sub floor actually BOWED up in the middle of the kitchen.

 This is a picture of the front unit that has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living area and a kitchen. Both units are only 1136 square feet living area combined. At the time of the sale, this property was the lowest single family home and duplex price in Santa Cruz City, CA. This was LISTED FOR $299,000. Because of it's great location and low price it generated a huge interest. It had a couple of offers and the seller choose my clients because he was paying ALL CASH and he has a construction company that could repair and remodel this property. The final SALE PRICE WAS $272,500. 

 

 

 

This video says it all, Cash Buyer Turns Dump To Lovely Duplex on Seabright Ave.

 

The remodel started with lifting the house and putting in a new foundation. At the same time it needed a new roof. Then he set the house down, LEVELED the floors and replaced all flooring with gorgeous hard wood flooring. He had to replace all the windows and doors, the deck in front and in back. There are two claw foot tubs he was able to refurbish, He made the bathrooms larger with all new plumbing fixtures. Both kitchens have new appliances, cabinets, tile counters. And the smartest thing that he did is put a solid wall in between the two units.

Using his own crew, the entire project cost about 1/3rd of the purchase price and was completed in two months.  Both units are now rented for a combined price of $3,000.  This is a great example of how a man with cash and vision turned an eyesore into a neighborhood asset and made a profit in the process.  Let me help you be the next success story!