Category: Real Estate

By M.C. Dwyer We Santa Cruz Mountains residents are still recovering from this winter’s brutal onslaught of back-to-back atmospheric river storms. We’ve been through evacuations, multiple road closures (some of which will last for years), fallen trees and branches, slides, floods, property and electronics damage*, intermittent loss of internet and cell phone coverage, and frequent/lengthy power outages across the County.… Read More

By M.C. Dwyer As the bigleaf maple leaves turn yellow and brown, one by one they break loose, spinning and swirling down onto the ground. And so it goes with home prices: we are reminded that what goes up, often comes down.      In their determined fight against inflation, the Federal Reserve has been putting the brakes on our economy. Based… Read More

By M.C. Dwyer Did you know the unemployment rate is down to just 3.5% — tied for the lowest rate since 1969? This helped push wages about 5% higher than this time last year and may reduce chances of recession. Meanwhile, the stock market (a source of buyers’ down payments) recovered to about a 10% loss for the year, a… Read More

By M.C. Dwyer For the past few years, home sellers drove the market. Many homes sold for profitable premiums, leaving home buyers frustrated and battered by competition. In just the past few months, the pendulum is swinging back towards the center due to rapid economic changes: higher inflation and mortgage rates, and recession concerns. After the cost of home ownership… Read More