Gaviota Coast Painting

Gaviota Coast
Oil/Canvas
36" x 60"
By Emily K. McBride
$2545

*Available for viewing at Yoga Soup soon

Months of Inventory - Santa Barbara Homes

Here are the current months of inventory for the Santa Barbara South Coast, (Carpinteria to Goleta), homes only, (not condos).

Months of Inventory, or Market Velocity, is the number of months it would take to sell all the current active listings, at the current pace of sales, assuming no new listings are added.  To calculate this, we use the number of properties that entered escrow in the immediate past 30 days.  This is a much better indication of buyer confidence today vs. closed sales that reflect buyer activity 2-4 months ago.

As a rule of thumb, 0-3 months of inventory indicate a sellers' market; 3-6 months indicates a "balanced market"; 6-9 months is a buyers' market and 9+ months is indicative of a weak market.

As of a few days ago, there were 479 homes for sale on the South Coast; 84 homes went pending in the immediate past 30 days, giving a market-wide rate of 5.7 months of inventory.

Breakdown by neighborhoods is as follows:

Carpinteria & Summerland:  7 mos of inv.

Montecito:  9.8 mos. of inv.

Santa Barbara:  4 mos. of inv.

Hope Ranch:  11 mos. of inv.

Goleta:  4.3 mos. of inv.

By price range:

$0-1 million:  3.1 mos. of inv.

$1-2 million:  6.8 mos. of inv.

$2-3 million:  8.1 mos. of inv.

$3-4 million:  16 mos. of inv.

$4-8 million:  7.7 mos. of inv.

$8+ million:  20+ mos. of inv.

One can see that the "hottest" segments of the market are the Santa Barbara & Goleta homes under $1 million; and the softest part of our local market is Montecito $8+ million.

New Listing - No Minimum Bid Auction April 21st - Originally Listed at $3,390,000

Quick Description:

AUCTION | APRIL 21 | No Minimum Bid Required! Open Daily 3/19-4/21 from 1-4pm. This exquisite estate offers a rebuilt 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath home with matching carriage house and 3-car garage, potting shed & guest apartment/office. The home is light-filled with a large chef’s kitchen, vaulted ceilings, and slate roof. Private & serene. 2-acres w/100-yr-old oak & olive trees, seasonal creek, expansive lawns, stonework and panoramic mountain views.  The result: Pure perfection. 

Overview:
This natural light-filled estate features an open floor plan, complete with a large chef’s kitchen, vaulted ceilings and stunning Chinese multi-colored slate roofs and flooring – it is truly a place where craftsmanship and a heightened attention to detail are most evident with no expense spared. Elegant interior features throughout the home include custom-made Santa Barbara doors; Douglas fir flooring, interior doors and woodwork; custom-made wrought-iron light fixtures; dual-paned windows; and copper gutters and downspouts. The home is also outfitted with a host of modern amenities, including a whole-house water filtration system, a two-zoned forced air unit with air conditioning and circulating hot water. But perhaps the best amenity of all is the view. Snuggle with a good book in the living room’s charming bay seat window; Sip a morning cup of coffee on the spacious porch; or host a dinner party on one of the inviting patios, perfectly poised for entertaining, al fresco dining or just relaxing — all while enjoying the natural ambiance of the breathtaking outdoors and views beyond.

Gathering:
There is no denying that the heart of the home is the living room. Ideal for gathering, the living room is inviting, open and spacious. With floods of natural light pouring through its walls of seemingly endless picture windows, the room was built to showcase the home’s simply spectacular views. Cream-hued walls elegantly stand contrast to rich Douglas fir hardwood flooring and wood beamed Cathedral ceiling.

Entertaining:
Open to the dining room, complete with wood-burning fireplace, the gourmet chef’s kitchen is ideal for entertaining and is outfitted with top-of-the-line amenities that are sure to please even the most discerning of cooks and food enthusiasts alike. A true fusion of beauty and functionality, the kitchen offers plenty of storage space tucked away in its charming, custom-made maple cabinetry. Even the anchor of the room, a 10-foot-long center island with matching granite countertop, provides ample storage options with its glass-encased under cabinets and shelving. High-end finishings include a Wolf range, Subzero refrigerator and freezer, Sharp microwave drawer, Miele dishwasher and Franke sinks. Additional features include a reverse osmosis system to the faucets and ice maker, instant boiling water tap and walk-in pantry.

Rest & Relaxation:
Each of the home’s four bedrooms are luxurious retreats. Incredibly spacious, the master bedroom suite features a large walk-in closet, unrivaled mountain views and full bathroom with his and hers Mahogany vanity and tub surround, Kallista faucets and Water Works tiles. A second bedroom suite also offers plenty of living space and a second entrance, making it ideal for in-laws or an au pair. A walk-in closet, sitting/study area and full bathroom with custom cabinetry complete the room. Two more bedrooms can be found in the home’s guest/children’s wing. They share a bathroom, while each has a separate entrance and is outfitted with custom cabinetry. The home also features a powder and laundry room, complete with built-in ironing board, cabinetry and laundry sink.

 

Carriage House:

A unique feature of the estate, the matching carriage house makes for an ideal caretaker’s or guest apartment. Beautifully-designed, the house serves as a wonderful addition to the property and features mirroring interior elements of the main residence throughout. Amenities include a spacious upper-level wrap-around deck, perfect for taking in spectacular views, a full bathroom, a finished three-car garage with built-in cabinetry and a potting shed with farmhouse sink and built-in cabinetry.

As seen on the New York Daily News: http://bestplaces.nydailynews.com/voyeur/best-place-week-110-oribaza-rd-santa-barbara-california
In partnership with Concierge Auctions: www.AuctionSantaBarbara.com
110 Orizaba on the Village Properties Official Website: http://www.villagesite.com/properties/detail/mls_id/11-1019
Please call Emily McBride at 805.252.2773 with any questions or for auction materials.

Yahoo Tech Ticker - Warren Buffet is Bullish ... On Housing

This may be past news to some of you since it was posted about a week ago, but I thought it was worth sharing the thoughts and activities of the Almighty Warren Buffet. I agree that the housing market will recover. We don't know when that will happen, but it will happen eventually. If you haven't read Berkshire Hathaway's annual reports, they are very interesting. Click here.

February end-of-month statistics will be posted soon.

Luxury home sales jump 21% in California - L.A. Times Article

Here is an interesting article from the L.A. Times dated February 12, 2011:



Even the rich love a deal.

California homes priced at $1 million or more experienced a sales boom in 2010, the first increase in five years, even as overall home sales in the state declined, a real estate information service reported. The reason: High-end home shoppers went bargain hunting as certain parts of the economy improved but luxury home prices remained depressed.

Last year, 22,529 homes sold statewide for $1 million-plus, a 21% increase from 2009, according to DataQuick Information Systems in San Diego. In contrast, the total number of California homes sold last year dropped 9%.

"Prestige home buyers respond to a different set of motivations than the rest of us. Their decisions are less dependent on jobs, prices and interest rates, and more on how their portfolio is doing," DataQuick President John Walsh said.

"When the financial world was full of uncertainty a couple of years back, and the jumbo-loan market dried up, luxury sales plummeted. As the economy started its top-down recovery, some wealthy buyers went looking for a bargain," he said.

Savvy shoppers trying to time the market swooped in before discounted prices could turn the corner.

"Certainly, we're pretty sure we're at the bottom" for home prices, said economist Christopher Thornberg, principal with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles.

Even if prices fall further, he said, "if you are borrowing, buying today makes a lot of sense because interest rates are just incredibly low."

Two other reasons for the $1-million-and-up market increase are the return of the jumbo mortgage market in 2010 and a comeback in the stock market, which saw huge losses in 2009, Thornberg said. "A lot of folks who were reeling from equity losses bounced back."

Cash purchases also inched upward among $1-million buyers last year to 29.4% of sales, up from 28.9% in 2009 and the highest for any year since 1994. But even cash purchases can be motivated by low interest rates.

"A lot of cash offers are done on the basis of the person trying to get a leg up and then they turn around and refi," Thornburg said.

Million-dollar-plus sales hit a high of 54,773 in 2005 and then dropped through 2009. Last year's sales increase came despite a winnowing in the category; 3,380 of the homes that sold statewide for less than $1 million had previously sold for $1 million or more, DataQuick analysis shows.

"There are not as many million-dollar homes kicking around as there were during the boom years," Thornberg said.

L.A.-area real estate offices also noticed the uptick in $1-million-plus sales.

"I think last year there were a lot of buyers who said now is the best time to buy," said Jeffrey Hyland, president of Hilton & Hyland, whose Beverly Hills office doubled its dollar volume from 2009. "We noticed it on the high end."

His office, for example, sold seven houses for more than $20 million last year.

"That's a good sign to the market of where we are" that high net-worth buyers are making purchases, Hyland said.

"It's like those people don't read the doom and gloom" news reports, he said.

Plus, the rich do often get richer. "Some people are more wealthy now than they were before," Hyland said.

Most of the high-end sales, 79%, fell between $1 million and $2 million. The median-size home in the million-dollar-plus category was 2,840 square feet, with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, and the median price paid per square foot was $601, down 0.6% from $605 in 2009. For the overall California housing market, the median price per square foot was $164 in 2010, up 10.1% from $149 in 2009, DataQuick said.

The most expensive confirmed purchase statewide last year, based on public records, was a 35,000-square-foot-plus mansion on 2.2 acres in Bel-Air that sold for $50 million.

But not all mega-deals are subject to the bright light of public curiosity, if buyer and seller employ legal sleight of hand.

"A lot of the sales … may not appear on public records," Hyland said of the most expensive transactions.

So the number of $1-million-plus sales, he said, could be even greater than reported.

lauren.beale@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Photo Caption: The 48,000-square-foot Le Belvedere in Bel-Air sold for $50 million to $72 million.

New Listing at 1425-1427 Almond Avenue

New Listing!
1425-1427 Almond Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Offered at $699,000
Two Craftsman Homes on one lot. Both are 2B/1B homes, with living rooms, kitchens, yard space, and parking. The front house has one extra room. Separately metered for gas and electricity.
Please call Emily at 805.252.2773. Do NOT disturb the tenants.

Sunset at Fernald Point

Gorgeous sunset Friday night at Fernald Point