Each month a very generous and talented colleague, Gary Woods compiles all the Santa Barbara Multiple Listing and Cort sales data and provides many of us in the real estate industry with a synopsis of the current market. Thank you Gary, as always your expertise and data is very appreciated!
For Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta for the Home Estate/PUD market the number of sales rose to the high 60s in March from the mid 40s in February. The median sales price also came up and has risen every month from the first of the year when it was $762,000 in January, just below $800,000 in February and right about $890,000 in March. The average sales price continued to hover right around $1.25 million for both 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 80th percentile which is a big jump from where we started the year at 75% in January and rising to the high 70th percentile in February.
What really came up for the month was the numbers of opened escrows. Starting in January escrows were in the low 50s followed by February which saw pending properties rise to 65 and in March that number rose to over 100. The median list price of those opened escrows fell back slightly however dipping from just below $900,000 in February to right around $880,000 in March. What did not come up much was the inventory which rose by less than 5% from the previous month putting it in the mid 500 bracket. The median list price of those available properties did drop however coming down about $100,000 to approximately $1.7 million.
For the first 3 months of ’10 compared to the same period for ’09 the numbers of sales is up by about 20% rising to the mid 170s. But, the median sales price is down slightly falling from $822,500 last year to about $812,500 this year. Interestingly, the average sales price went up this year from $1,185,336 in ’09 to about $1.27 million this year. With the numbers of sales rising the numbers of escrows are also up about 20% and the median list price on those escrows is up from $859,000 last year to about $875,000 this year.
Looking at the Districts, starting out in Carpinteria/Summerland the numbers of sales are still more than triple what they were last year at this time rising from 6 in ’09 to 19 in ’10. The median sales price also came up from just below $600,000 last year to about $850,000 this year. In Montecito the amount of sales activity is the same for both years with 24 closed transactions but the median sales price has declined from $2.5 million last year to $2.1 million this year. The numbers of escrows are way up this year however rising from 24 in ’09 to 32 in ’10 with the median list price on those opened escrows falling from about $2.8 million last year to just under $2 million this year.
On the East Side of Santa Barbara sales have gone up from 33 in ’09 to 47 in ’10 but the median sales price fell from $970,000 last year to about $903,000 this year. For the West Side sales rose from 34 last year to 39 this year and the median sales price has come up for the area from $725,000 last year to $780,000 this year.
Hope Ranch has seen sales go from 2 last year to 5 this year and the median sales price has gone from $2.365 million in ’09 to about $3.5 million this year. Goleta South sales are down slightly from 18 to 16 this year and the median sales price has declined from $655,000 in ’09 to $606,000 in ’10. Goleta North sales are right where they were last year with 33 sales in both years with the median sales price also dropping from $707,500 last year to $682,500 this year.
With both sales and escrows rising about 20% for the year the median sales price is slightly behind where it was last year following a very slow start pricewise this year. The median sales price looks like it should start going up gradually however with more sales occurring in the $1 to $2 million and the $2 million and up range.
For the condo market after seeing declining numbers of sales for the past 5 months sales started to rise in March going from 18 in February to 26 in March but the median sales price declined for the month dropping from $457,500 in February to $417,500 in March. The numbers 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 ’09 to the same period in ’10 the numbers of sales is way up going from 36 last year to 65 this year for an 80% rise. But, the median sales price has declined from $483,750 last year to $420,000 this year for a 13% drop. The numbers of escrows is also way up with 91 this year compared to 62 in ’09 for a 47% rise while the median list price on those escrows is down by 11% falling from $489,000 last year to $434,900 this year.
Somewhat surprisingly, the condo inventory did not come up substantially for the month remaining in the low 140 range for Carpinteria to Goleta but the median list price of the inventory rose from just under $600,000 to about $630,000 during March.
Looking at the Districts we see that sales are still robust in Carpinteria/Summerland rising from 8 last year to 14 this year but the median sales price has fallen from $436,250 in ’09 to $386,850 in ’10. In Montecito there have been 5 condo sales this year with a median sales price of $1,075,000 compared to no sales last year.
On the East side of Santa Barbara sales are also way up rising from 8 last year to 16 this year but the median sales price has declined from $573,000 in ’09 to $417,500 in ’10. The West Side has also seen a rise in the numbers of sales coming up from 10 in ’09 to 17 in ’10 but the median sales price has declined from $522,500 to $443,000.
For Goleta South the numbers of sales is up 1 from last year rising from 6 in ’09 to 7 in ’10. But the median sales price for the area declined from $372,000 last year to $260,000 this year. Sales in Goleta North are also up rising from 5 in ’09 to 7 in ’10 with the median sales price remains essentially stable but falling slightly from $460,000 last year to $455,000 this year.
Sales are starting to rise for the condo market as we move into spring with about 1/3 of those sales in March coming in the $500,000 and up range. A big part of that rise is coming from Montecito where we have 5 sales this year compared to none last year but 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 Home Estate/PUDs and Condos but the median sales price has declined for both property types. There’s some upward pressure for Home prices below $1 million and more activity in the higher priced condos should bring up the median sales price for that category. Increased inventory is still the key to maintaining momentum particularly in that $650,000 to $900,000 range for homes and the sub $500,000 range for condos.
