April 2009 Statistics - Santa Barbara Real Estate Market

January 1 - April 30th, 2009 (Carpinteria, Summerland, Montecito, Hope Ranch, and Goleta)

April 2009 revealed some closings with the many escrows that had piled up in the previous months. The month showed an improvement in the level of closings we had seen so far this year. The median sales price for April went up slightly from the previous month, but was still in the low to mid $800,000 range. The number of homes that went 'pending' in April was approximately 10% higher than what we saw in March, and the median list price for those pended properties was about $50,000 above the previous month’s figure of $849,000. This means that the median sold price should begin to rise. The inventory also continued to grow throughout the month and is about 10% above where it was in March. It looks like we are currently at the bottom of the price swing for the market under $1M, but prices above $1M could still adjust a bit more.

For condos, just like with homes, there have been a lot of escrows piling up for the first few months and now they’re starting to close. The median sales price dropped to the mid $400,000 level for April ’09 compared to $610,450 in April ’08. This decline can be attributed to a near complete lack of activity for higher priced condos and is more of a shift in the type of condo that has been selling ~ not a large drop in the prices of condos. Comparing April ’09 to April ’08, the pending numbers for condos are up about 35%. The inventory for condos declined slightly from March to April & the median list price for the inventory stayed stable at about $600,000. The condo market is starting to rebound because the lower priced single family homes that were available in Goleta and Carpinteria are basically gone at this time, making condos look more appealing. Unless we see a lot of new foreclosures going for sale, the condo market should continue to move forward with prices starting to stabilize.