New homes are springing up in Scotts Valley in recent years, as no fewer than five housing developments — for a total of 159 new homes — are either under construction or have recently been completed.
And they can’t build them fast enough to satisfy demand, said Realtor Ronnie Trubek.
“We definitely have more demand than we have supply,” she said.
The sales figures don’t lie, either. The 46 three-and-four bedroom townhouses of the Town Center Collection on Blue Bonnet Lane were all sold and off the market before the construction wrapped up in December 2013, according to Phil Kerr, vice president of the site’s developer, City Ventures, LLC.
The same was true for the sixteen 3,700-square-foot homes of the The Meadow at Falcon Ridge — the last house was completed at the end of 2013, and all 16 are now sold, said Mark Szychowski of Delaveaga Properties, which handled the sales.
Trubek said that Scotts Valley’s proximity to Highway 17, Santa Clara County and the tech jobs of the Silicon Valley make the city an attractive destination for would-be homebuyers who cannot afford Santa Clara County’s high prices — but would still like to have the urban services of city living.
“Buyers really like new houses,” Trubek said. “And these things, they don’t have a long market time.”
Realtor Rose Marie McNair said that the influx of new construction could be tied to the recovering economy, since new construction all but halted during the economic crisis of 2007-08.
“There might just be a pent-up demand — we are so short of homes for sale that they are gone in a flash,” she said. “The interest rates have not risen as much as people thought.”
There are three other developments under construction in Scotts Valley, in various stages of completion.
– Woodside Homes
Under construction by San Ramon-based Castle Companies, approximately a quarter of what will be an eventual 49 single-family homes have been completed on the former site of the RVs of Merritt dealership near the intersection of Scotts Valley Drive and El Pueblo Road.
There are three different floor plans on the homes, which range between 1,793 and 1,898 square feet and boast between three and four bedrooms.
– The Manor at Scotts Valley
The newest development on Scotts Valley Drive — located between Cathy Lane and Civic Center Drive — is still in the early stages of construction, with only ground work and some foundations being completed so far.
However, said Ken Marron of Sunnyvale-based Sycamore Homes, eight townhouses will be completed on the site before summer. The townhouses, of which there will be two floor plans, will be between 1,578 and 1,799 square feet. Customers will be able to choose between two-story and three-story homes.
– Polo Ranch development
Emerging from a recent row over the existing Polo Ranch structures, the pathway is now cleared for Lennar Homes, a Miami, Fla.-based developer, to begin work that calls for 40 high-end homes to be built near the former site of Santa’s Village, on the north side of Scotts Valley.
