Upcoming 1st Thursday Event (& mention of my painting group .. )

Yes, that's right. 1st Thursday is here again, and it's happening next week (November 5th) all over downtown. Come stop by Eden at 17 W. Ortega from 5-8p.m. to see my most recent oil paintings, hear live instrumental music by The Refreshments, and have some refreshments (local wine, etc.). It will be a good time with good people. You can grab a 'Passport' from Eden that you can use as your guide through downtown for the evening.

Speaking of my recent oil paintings, I want to mention my amazing painting group and say that I would not be painting if it weren't for them. I have been a part of this group for over six years now, and we are all so different, and we all paint such different things, but somehow we work really well together. We give encouragement and feedback, fun conversation, and as you can see from these somewhat blurry photos, a lot of joking around. (Anne Wright attacked me with red paint after I started laughing at her for having green paint all over her mouth.) I tend to paint really large pieces these days, although I do all sizes, and others paint very tiny and detailed pieces. Some are detailed and others are impressionistic, and that's what creates all the chemistry, because no one is trying to compete. Lots of love to my group!

See you next Thursday...

Be Informed ~ Get The Santa Barbara Skinny

There are a couple tools every Santa Barbara local must have to be informed about the latest deals, treasures, and events going on in Santa Barbara.

First we have LoveMikana.com ~ and seriously ~ you will Love Mikana. Every day you can learn about Arts/Culture, a way to Be Active, the Green Scene, Style Files, Wine & Dine, and the Weekend Guide. Sign up on their website. You'll love the content... It takes about 10 seconds to read.


Next we have SBClick.com. Some friends started this new application. You can get it at the iTunes store for free. Go to SBClick.com to set up your profile & preferences. Then you can use the live application to find local deals based on your preferences to save money, find popular spots, or decide what you'll do for entertainment tonight.


Have fun being in the know and enjoying our beautiful city!


~ Emily

Weekly Snapshot Statistics - Santa Barbara Real Estate Market

Beginning the week of 10/19/09-10/25/09:

41 new listings
49 price changes
28 sales pended (23 of these were under $1M, four $1-2M, one $2-4M)
29 closed
24 off market (12 expired, 8 canceled, 4 withdrawn)
14 back on market

*The percentage of sales over $1M this week was 18%.

California Median Home Prices Since 1970

Weekly Snapshot Statistics - Santa Barbara Real Estate Market

Beginning the week of 10/12/09-10/18/09:

41 new listings
41 price changes
(lowest numbers in the past 4 weeks, which is a good thing)

44 sales pended (36 of these were under $1M, four $1-2M, four $2-4M)
(highest number in 4 weeks)

31 closed
35 off market (13 expired, 13 canceled, 9 withdrawn)
14 back on market

Beginning the week of 10/5/09-10/11/09:

58 new listings
47 price changes
43 sales pended (30 of these were under $1M, nine $1-2M, one $2-4M, two $4-8M, one $8M+)
29 closed
37 off market (21 expired, 10 canceled, 6 withdrawn)
15 back on market

*The percentage of sales over $1M has been bouncing from 20-30% of the local sales.

*Our median price for Santa Barbara South County Real Estate was $825,000 at the end of the first quarter for 2009, $840,000 at the end of the second quarter, and $840,000 at the end of the third quarter. Yesterday's Santa Barbara Newspress Real Estate section stated that this is 'stability.'

Three Rea$ons to Buy a House Now

Recap of the September 2009 Santa Barbara County Real Estate & Economic Forecast

The September 2009 Santa Barbara County Real Estate & Economic Forecast just happened last week, and here are some of the main points to take away:

• Dr. Mark Schniepp & his team 'are pegging the end of the national recession at about mid-summer' & stating that is was 'during the months of July and August that a spate of economic indicators showing positive growth began piling up.'
• Housing is recovering with both new and existing home sales rising and selling values finally stabilizing after 2 years of contraction.
• The stock market has rallied 49 percent since March 9, 2009.
• Manufacturing is now showing growth and expansion.
• Home builder sentiment is improving and housing starts are rising again.
• Credit spreads are easing.
• The leading economic indicator index is sharply rising.
• The GDP contraction during the 2nd quarter was only 1.0 percent.
• Monthly job losses are diminishing.

Dr. Schniepp states that 'if there is any good news for California and its component counties, it’s that the housing sector is in recovery. The “correction” in housing is complete and the overshooting which normally occurs following a correction is nearly repaired. We saw median selling values overcorrect downward, and sales overcorrect upward (due to the flood of REO homes). The cycle appears to be abating.' The negatives for California are the labor market & our state's budget troubles.

Regarding the housing market:

• Foreclosure levels have declined.
• Volume has increased.
• Inventory has subsided.
• Selling values have stabilized, even rebounding slightly.
• Notices of Default (NODs) remain at elevated levels.
• Fire sale prices will fade as more conventional home sales dominate the transactions.
• We will see a more normal market by 2010.
• Home selling values may have bottomed in February/March 2009 for Santa Barbara South County.
• Sales of condos in Santa Barbara South County have clearly rebounded (up 11% compared to last year).
• Financing with adjustable rate mortgages is at an all-time low, down-payments are sizable, financing with multiple mortgages is low, and non-owner occupied purchases are above average in some markets.
• The likelihood that mortgage rates will remain competitive into 2010 is high.
• For the second quarter of 2010, sales are expected to be 20% higher than they were during the second quarter this year ... and sales are expected to continue to expand into 2011.
  
• Prices are expected to bounce up between now and the end of 2010 as distressed sales no longer dominate the market.
• In a survey of home buyers, 74% of the buyers in Santa Barbara South County are still local (this number has been consistent over the past years) & only 1% of our buyers this year have been from foreign countries.
• In the same survey, first-time home buyers represented 25% of the sales in the first half of 2009, and 56% of these purchases were condos or mobile homes.
  
• Dr. Mark Schniepp states 'there is a clear V-shaped recovery underway regarding sales volume.'
• Year to date comparisons for the state of California indicate that 2009 home sales are 37 percent higher than last year. The rise in home sales this year is an extension of the trend that began in 2008, when sales rose 27 percent over 2007 levels.
• Most California counties are at their highest sales levels since late 2005.
• Home selling values have been rising in all principal regions of the state over the past few months.
  

So there you have it. I feel this is excellent information that can be used to guide your decisions. If you have any questions, want more in-depth information or if you would like to discuss your situation over the phone, please call me at (805)252-2773.

Weekly Snapshot Statistics - Santa Barbara Real Estate Market

For the last 4 weeks!

Beginning the week of 9/7/09-9/13/09:

42 new listings
45 price changes
35 sales pended (27 of these were under $1M)
28 closed
29 off market (15 expired, 11 canceled, 3 withdrawn)
14 back on market

At this point, we had 6.5 months of inventory for our Santa Barbara South County housing market (not including condos). Condos were at a 3.4 month level for months of inventory.
Goleta was at 3.4 months. Santa Barbara was at 5.6 months. Montecito was at 11.4 months. Carpinteria/Summerland was at 8.9 months.

For the week of 9/14/09-9/20/09:

41 new listings
55 price changes
42 sales pended (27 under $1M, 13 $1-2M, two $2-4M)
26 closed
26 off market (13 expired, 11 canceled, 2 withdrawn)
13 back on market

At this point, we had 5.8 months of inventory for our entire market (mobile homes, condos, houses, estates). 839 active properties. 144 pending properties. For properties under $1M, we had 3.3 months of inventory. The $1-2M range had 7.6 months of inventory. The $2-4M range had 13 months of inventory. The homes above $4M had 4 pendings in the 30 days prior to this week.

For the week of 9/21/09-9/27/09:

43 new listings
60 price changes
36 sales pended (27 under $1M, five $1-2M, one $2-4M, two $4-8M, one $8M+)
38 closed
24 off market (15 expired, 6 canceled, 3 withdrawn)
15 back on market

For the week of 9/28/09-10/04/09:

44 new listings
48 price changes
28 sales pended (22 under $1M, four $1-2M, one $2-4M, one $4-8M)
31 closed
46 off market (33 expired, 12 canceled, 1 withdrawn)
11 back on market