Santa Barbara Real Estate Market Update - End of 1st Quarter 2010

Santa Barbara Real Estate Market Update - Through March 2010

Covering Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta for the Home Estate/PUD market, the number of sales rose from February, and the median sales price also came up. The median sales price has risen every month since January when it was $762,000. It hovered just below $800,000 in February, and landed at $890,000 in March. The average sales price remained at about $1,250,000 for February and March, falling from approximately $1.3 million in January. The sales price to original list price ratio also came up in March finishing in the high 80% range, which is excellent compared to about 75% back in January and about 70% in February.

Another big increase we saw in March was the number of escrows being opened. January escrows were in the low 50's, followed by February where we watched pending properties rise to about 65, but March showed that number at over 100. The median list price of those opened escrows was right around $880,000 in March. Inventory stayed about the same, and rose by less than 5% from February (around 550 homes for sale).

For the first 3 months of 2010 compared to the same period for 2009, the number of sales were up by about 20%. The median sales price came down slightly, from $822,500 last year to about $812,500 this year. The average sales price went up this year from $1,185,336 in 2009 to about $1,270,000 this year.

**We are beginning to see the $1-2mm range pick up in activity.

The condo market saw sales begin to rise in March, but the median sales price declined for the month dropping from $457,500 in February to $417,500 in March. The number of condos going into escrow also rose in March, coming up from 25 in February to 40 in March, but the median list price on those condos going into escrow fell from just under $500,000 in February to about $420,000 in March.

Comparing the first quarter of 2009 to the same period in 2010, the number of sales is way up, going from 36 last year to 65 this year (an 80% rise). The median sales price declined from $483,750 last year to $420,000 this year (a 13% drop). The number of escrows has gone way up with 91 this year compared to 62 in 2009 (a 47% rise).

The condo inventory did not come up substantially for the month of March, remaining in the low 140 range from Carpinteria through Goleta. The median list price of the inventory rose from just under $600,000 to about $630,000 during March.

Sales are starting to rise for the condo market as we move into spring, with about 1/3 of those sales in March arriving in the $500,000+ range. A big part of that rise is coming from Montecito, where we have 5 sales this year compared to none last year. The sub $300,000 range is also well represented with the median sales price for Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta South still falling.

Sales are up for both homes and condos, but the median sales price has declined for both property types. There’s upward pressure for home prices below $1 million. This combined with more activity in the higher priced condos should bring up the median sales price for that category. Increased inventory is still believed to be the key to maintaining momentum, particularly in the $650,000 to $900,000 range for homes, and the $500,000 and under range for condos.