Sales Are Up and Inventory is Down in Santa Barbara’s Housing Market

May statistics are out for Santa Barbara’s housing market.  There’s not as much on the market as in previous years, and there’s pent-up demand out there, resulting in multiple offers and some frustrated buyers.

Number of sales for the period January-May:

2008 – 315

2009 – 270

2010 – 353

2011 – 340

2012 – 475

The last time we had this many sales for the first 5 months of the year was 2004-2005, in the height of the boom.

Median prices are holding steady, with May of 2011 showing a median sales price of $795,000. and May of 2012 showing $805,000.

Here’s the inventory totals as of this writing (not including condos):

East of State: 124

West of State: 80

Montecito: 207

Hope Ranch: 26

Goleta South:  29

Goleta North: 74

Entry level priced-homes are disappearing.  Currently, there are only 13 homes in the city of Santa Barbara priced under $500,000.

Low interest rates persist and are predicted to stay low for at least another year.  Realty Times posts the latest rates for both fixed and ARM loans. 

If you’re interested in knowing more about the Santa Barbara market or want to see what’s for sale, contact me anytime.

Karen Blackburn

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY

805-470-1002

First Quarter Real Estate Stats for Santa Barbara Show Upward Pressure on Prices

At the same time that some sellers’ homes are staying on the market for months without an offer, an increasing number of buyers have bumped up against multiple offers when trying to purchase a home in Santa Barbara’s real estate market lately.  Looking at the statistics so far this year, we are experiencing fewer homes on the market for this time of year than usual, at the same time that demand is increasing.

Based on information available from the MLS, here are the numbers for the period Jan-Mar from 2007 to 2012:

# of Active Listings

2007 – 413

2008 – 546

2009 – 598

2010 – 540

2011 – 553

2012 – 415

At the same time that inventory is down,  the number of pending sales is up considerably.  The following list shows you how we compare this year to the past 4 years, as far as pending sales:

# of pending sales

2008 – 193

2009 – 177

2010 – 202

2011 – 206

2012 – 314

Keep in mind that some of the ‘pending’ sales are distressed property sales, or ‘short sales’, and these stay in the queue much longer than the typical transaction, so the number is a little inflated.  But not much – we’ve had short sales in all the previous years as well. 

What these 2 lists mean is that demand is higher than supply – leading to upward pressure on prices.  It’s early in the year to predict how strong the trend will be, but here’s what’s happened with prices so far this year:

As far as median price, we are on par with 2011 so far this year, on average.   We ended the year with a median sales price of $707,000 in December of 2011.  January showed a bump up in the median price with $810,000.  February was back down to $677,500.  and March was up again at $844,000.

The reality is that the higher end is moving again, helping to boost the median price.  Data from urban centers such as LA indicate a seller’s market is forming again, and our own market locally has experienced a return to multiple offers for desirable properties.

According toan article posted in SFgate.com from Bloomberg News, 

“ California home prices rose 1.6 percent in March, the first year-over-year increase in 16 months, helped by demand for houses in the San Francisco area, the California Association of Realtors said today.

The statewide median price for an existing single-family detached home jumped to $291,080, the Los Angeles-based group said today in a statement. That was a 9.2 percent gain from February, the largest monthly increase since March 2004.

“Sales jumped significantly in most regions of the state, with many areas experiencing double-digit gains,” LeFrancis Arnold, the association’s president, said in the statement. “Tight inventory and robust home sales, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, fueled the substantial increase in the March median home price.”

Homes available for sale and the number of days it took to sell a property both declined last month. The time needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales pace fell to 4.1 months from 5.4 months in both February and a year earlier. A seven-month supply is considered normal, according to the association.

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home in California dropped to 53.1 days in March from 57 days a year earlier, the group said.”

–Editors: Daniel Taub, Christine Maurus

So what this all means is that if you are a buyer who’s been hanging out on the sidelines waiting for the ‘bottom’, you may have just missed it, which is how that goes (you never know the bottom of the market until it’s started going back up).  And if you are a seller who’s been waiting for your home value to come back out of that dark little hole it went in to several years ago, now may be a good time to come out from under that rock  to see if your home might be worth a little more than it used to.

If you’d like some information about the current market value of your home, or if you’re thinking it might be the right time for you to buy, email, text or call me.  I’m happy to help.

Karen Blackburn, Realtor

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY

1435 Anacapa St.

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

805-470-1002

karenSBrealestate@gmail.com

Can You Afford to Move to Santa Barbara?

You might think that you can’t afford to move to Santa Barbara, since the area is known for its expensive real estate.  After all, it IS paradise.  But you’d be surprised at what you can get, now that the market has fallen.  Home values are down to 2002 levels in many cases and condos have become especially affordable.  That, along with today’s incredibly low interest rates, means you might be able to call this incredible town your home without completely breaking the bank.  But the situation may not last for much longer –

According to statistics posted by the California Association of Realtors,

“February sales posted a stronger than usual performance with sales in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and San Francisco all logging double-digit gains from the previous year,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Recent encouraging signs in the GDP, employment picture, and consumer confidence suggest that a growing economy is in the making. All this, combined with continued-low mortgage rates, lays out a good foundation for the housing market to continue to grow as we enter the spring home buying season.”

The same phenomenon is occurring here in Santa Barbara, with 203 pending sales logged in as of the end of February, 2012, compared to 123 by end of February last year.  However, the number of homes for sale is down 8.4% compared to the first two months of last year, which is starting to result in multiple offers on the homes that ARE on the market. 

The median house price in Santa Barbara is hovering just below $800,000, which is still lotsa moolah, but nowhere near the $1.25M it was at the height of the market.  The median price for a condo is now at $360,000. down from $695,000 at the height of the market. 

Examples of reality?  I recently found a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with 1800 square feet  in Old Town Goleta for some first-time buyers that they were able to purchase for $350,000. (Yes, it needed lots of cosmetic work, but it was structurally solid).  And at this moment, there are at least 3 homes available in the desirable neighborhood of San Roque for under $700K.  And there is an 1100 sq. ft.,  2 bedroom, 2 bath cottage (with one attached wall) also in San Roque, currently for sale for $479,000.

And as for the rest?  With all the free festivals, 2 Trader Joe’s for affordable groceries, and the beach, you can’t go wrong. 

To get more info on Santa Barbara, contact:

Karen Blackburn, Realtor

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY

1435 Anacapa St.

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

805-470-1002

karenSBrealestate@gmail.com