Does it get any cuter than this?
maybe...stay tuned!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Village Insight Digital Magazine: Homes.Style.Life
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Welcome to Village Insight! Village Properties is proud to announce Village Insight, its brand new quarterly digital magazine, a gorgeous completely digital magazine, accessible online with just one click. homes. style. life. Village Insight has it all. Local stories, people and places. Real estate market news and insights. And lest we forget, a beautiful presentation of hundreds of Village's current listings. Grab the laptop, kick back, and browse through the full double-page layouts and photography. Village Insight is beautiful, fast, and free.  Village Insight is for visitors and locals alike. With original articles and artwork, we're sure everyone will discover something new about Montecito, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez in each issue. Please click here to view our inaugural issue. We hope you enjoy it and share it with all your friends too. It's free! | What's New? Well... everything really. Village Insight showcases more than beautiful homes and gorgeous estates. Each issue provides its readers with stories about local treasures, events, people and businesses. In this inaugural issue, VI talks to winemaker Doug Margerum up in Happy Canyon; eats its way through the California Avocado Festival in Carpinteria, and takes visitors for a stroll down State Street. It's not all just human interest though. VI also weighs in with local real estate news and sales figures in our Real Insight section. Listings, Listings, Listings And lest we forget, VI showcases hundreds of gorgeous listings, from Ojai up through Los Olivos. Everything from sensible family homes in perfect family neighborhoods, all the way to massive ranches and estates with all the amenities and views you could ever dream for. What Are You Waiting For? Why just read about it here though? Village Insight is just a click away. Please follow the link below to start flipping through Village Insight right away.  |
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Weekly Real Estate Snapshot 10/18 - 10/24
New Listings: 19
Price Improvements: 60
Pending: 30 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 18
$1-2 million: 7
$2-4 million: 4
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 14 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 9
$1-2 million: 3
$2-4 million: 1
$4-8 million: 0
$8 million+: 1
Off Market (expired, canceled, withdrawn): 21
Back On Market: 7
Price Improvements: 60
Pending: 30 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 18
$1-2 million: 7
$2-4 million: 4
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 14 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 9
$1-2 million: 3
$2-4 million: 1
$4-8 million: 0
$8 million+: 1
Off Market (expired, canceled, withdrawn): 21
Back On Market: 7
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wall Street Journal: 10 Reasons To Buy a Home
Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership.
Sure, maybe there's more pain to come in the housing market. But when Time magazine starts running covers that declare "Owning a home may no longer make economic sense," it's time to say: Enough is enough. This is what "capitulation" looks like. Everyone has given up.
After all, at the peak of the bubble five years ago, Time had a different take. "Home Sweet Home," declared its cover then, as it celebrated the boom and asked: "Will your house make you rich?"
But it's not enough just to be contrarian. So here are 10 reasons why it's good to buy a home.
1. You can get a good deal. Especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have now vanished, as the tax credits on purchases have just expired. We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern history. And prices have come down a long way– about 30% from their peak, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices in 20 big cities. Yes, it's mixed. New York is only down 20%. Arizona has halved. Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You'll never catch the bottom. It doesn't really matter so much in the long haul.
Where is fair value? Fund manager Jeremy Grantham at GMO, who predicted the bust with remarkable accuracy, said two years ago that home prices needed to fall another 17% to reach fair value in relation to household incomes. Case-Shiller since then: Down 18%.
Brett Arends discusses why he thinks now is a particularly good time to buy a home.
2. Mortgages are cheap. You can get a 30-year loan for around 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth. If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again in your lifetime. And if we get deflation, and rates fall further, you can refi.
3. You'll save on taxes. You can deduct the mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains–if any–when you sell. Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll only get the income tax break if you itemize your deductions, and many people may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The breaks are more valuable the more you earn, and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that these tax breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting.
![[roiB0915]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-JZ604_roiB09_DV_20100914164117.jpg)
The June 13, 2005 cover of Time.
4. It'll be yours. You can have the kitchen and bathrooms you want. You can move the walls, build an extension–zoning permitted–or paint everything bright orange. Few landlords are so indulgent; for renters, these types of changes are often impossible. You'll feel better about your own place if you own it than if you rent. Many years ago, when I was working for a political campaign in England, I toured a working-class northern town. Mrs. Thatcher had just begun selling off public housing to the tenants. "You can tell the ones that have been bought," said my local guide. "They've painted the front door. It's the first thing people do when they buy." It was a small sign that said something big.
5. You'll get a better home. In many parts of the country it can be really hard to find a good rental. All the best places are sold as condos. Money talks. Once again, this is a case by case issue: In Miami right now there are so many vacant luxury condos that owners will rent them out for a fraction of the cost of owning. But few places are so favored. Generally speaking, if you want the best home in the best neighborhood, you're better off buying.
6. It offers some inflation protection. No, it's not perfect. But studies by Professor Karl "Chip" Case (of Case-Shiller), and others, suggest that over the long-term housing has tended to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year. That's valuable inflation insurance, especially if you're young and raising a family and thinking about the next 30 or 40 years. In the recent past, inflation-protected government bonds, or TIPS, offered an easier form of inflation insurance. But yields there have plummeted of late. That also makes homeownership look a little better by contrast.
7. It's risk capital. No, your home isn't the stock market and you shouldn't view it as the way to get rich. But if the economy does surprise us all and start booming, sooner or later real estate prices will head up again, too. One lesson from the last few years is that stocks are incredibly hard for most normal people to own in large quantities–for practical as well as psychological reasons. Equity in a home is another way of linking part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy–if it happens–and still managing to sleep at night.
8. It's forced savings. If you can rent an apartment for $2,000 month instead of buying one for $2,400 a month, renting may make sense. But will you save that $400 for your future? A lot of people won't. Most, I dare say. Once again, you have to do your math, but the part of your mortgage payment that goes to principal repayment isn't a cost. You're just paying yourself by building equity. As a forced monthly saving, it's a good discipline.
9. There is a lot to choose from. There is a glut of homes in most of the country. The National Association of Realtors puts the current inventory at around 4 million homes. That's below last year's peak, but well above typical levels, and enough for about a year's worth of sales. More keeping coming onto the market, too, as the banks slowly unload their inventory of unsold properties. That means great choice, as well as great prices.
10. Sooner or later, the market will clear. Demand and supply will meet. The population is forecast to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years. That means maybe 40 million new households looking for homes. Meanwhile, this housing glut will work itself out. Many of the homes will be bought. But many more will simply be destroyed–either deliberately, or by inaction. This is already happening. Even two years ago, when I toured the housing slump in western Florida, I saw bankrupt condo developments that were fast becoming derelict. And, finally, a lot of the "glut" simply won't matter: It's concentrated in a few areas, like Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.
Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@wsj.com
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
October Santa Barbara EcoBroker Newsletter
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Weekly Real Estate Snapshot 10/11 - 10/17
New Listings: 38
Price Improvements: 50
Pending: 25 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 16
$1-2 million: 4
$2-4 million: 3
$4-8 million: 2
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 19 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 7
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 3
$4-8 million: 2
$8 million+: 1
Off Market (expired, canceled, withdrawn): 31
Back On Market: 12
Price Improvements: 50
Pending: 25 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 16
$1-2 million: 4
$2-4 million: 3
$4-8 million: 2
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 19 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 7
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 3
$4-8 million: 2
$8 million+: 1
Off Market (expired, canceled, withdrawn): 31
Back On Market: 12
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Santa Barbara Real Estate through the end of September 2010
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 September ’10 for the Home Estate/PUD market of Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta the numbers of sales declined from the previous month when there were 80 down to 74 in September. This means that the numbers of sales has gone down 5 out of the last 6 months. The median sales price went up however rising over $100,000 from $776,000 in August to $879,750 in September. The average sales price also went up substantially rising from about $1.16 million in August to $1.57 million in September.
The decline in the numbers of sales is somewhat surprising because there were 94 escrows with a median list price of $879,000 opened in August but those escrows did correctly predict the rise in the median sales price which came in at $879,000 for September. The numbers of escrows has been swinging wildly from month to month with about 95 in June, 75 in July, approximately 95 in August, and now 80 in September. The median list price on those escrows has stayed remarkably solid however coming in right about $850,000 every month.
Looking at the Districts we see that sales in Carpinteria/Summerland of Home Estate/PUDs are up from 52 last year to 55 this year with the median sales price declining slightly from $687,500 last year to $662,500 this year.
In Montecito sales are up from 105 in ’09 to 109 in ’10 and the median sales price has dropped from $2.57 million last year to $2.41 million this year. This drop in the median sales price is actually more pronounced however because what is occurring is that houses priced for substantially more are now selling in that $2.4 million range.
On the East Side of Santa Barbara sales are up almost 20% going from 156 in ’09 to 185 in ’10 and the median sales price which was $900,000 last year is still above where it is currently at $929,000 but that gap is starting to move closer together.
The West Side of Santa Barbara also has sales up over 20% from 114 last year to 142 this year and the median sales price is also up from $730,000 last year to $800,000 this year. It looks like that level of sales and prices should continue on the West Side with pended properties coming in at the same percentage as sales and the median list price on those escrows still hovering right around $800,000.
For Hope Ranch sales are again moving forward from where they were last year when there were 10 up to 14 this year and the median sales price is also maintaining a lead over last year when it was $2.175 million. This year those 14 sales have given us a median sales price of $2.675 million and an average sales price of $3.51 million.
For Goleta South there have been 79 sales this year compared to 61 last year but the median sales price has declined slightly from $700,000 last year to $675,500 this year. Goleta North has also seen sales rise from 115 last year to 123 this year but for that area the median sales price has gone up slightly from $703,000 last year to $710,000 this year.
Comparing September 2010 with its 74 sales and about $880,000 median sales price to September 2009 we see sales down from the 85 of a year ago but the median sales price up from $750,000 last year to $880,000 this year. Essentially for the past 12 months the median sales price has remained stable from month to month at around $850,000. There have been some peaks and valleys in that time, but the overall effect has been the median sales price for the area remains at around $850,000.
The decline in the numbers of sales over the past 6 months can be attributed to 3 factors. First, the end of the 1st Time Buyer Credit, second, the usual seasonal slowdown and third the substantial numbers of foreclosures that we’re still being told are coming from the banks. If and when those foreclosures get released sales will go up but the median sales price should start to decline.
For the Condo market in September sales went up to 23 rising from 22 in the previous month. The median sales price also went up rising from $427,500 in August to $460,000 in September so it would naturally follow that the average sales price also rose from $507,027 to $529,538.
The numbers of escrows also rose from 27 the previous month to 36 in September but the median list price of those escrows declined from $490,000 in August to $469,000 in September. The Sales Price to Original List Price Ratio has remained strong for Condos all year hovering around the mid to low 90th percentile which means that when a property comes on at the right price it goes out very close to that price.
There have been 238 Condo sales through September 2010 compared to 226 at this time last year but the numbers of escrows has declined from 273 last year to 259 this year. The median sales price for ’10 of $437,000 is below the ’09 number of $467,000 but the median list price on the pended properties is $469,000 for both years. I think the disparity in the median sales price numbers and median list price numbers on the pended properties is due to the fact that most of those sub $400,000 condos are gone so if something is going into escrow it’s farther up in the price range.
Looking at the Districts, for Carpinteria/Summerland the sales are up by about 30% going from 107 to 140. But, the median sales price has declined from $411,500 last year to $385,000 this year.
In Montecito this year both sales and prices are up. For ’09 there were only 4 sales compared to 14 this year and the median sales price has risen from $697,000 last year to $1,022,500 this year.
On the East Side of Santa Barbara there have been 55 sales this year up from 43 last year but the median sales price is down from $529,500 last year to $475,000 this year. On the West Side of town the numbers of sales is up from 54 to 59 but the median sales price declined slightly from $510,000 last year to $495,000 this year.
Goleta South has seen sales drop markedly by over 40% basically due to a lack of inventory. Last year there were 55 sales and this year there have been 38. The median sales price has also dropped from $453,000 last year to $370,000 this year despite a huge rise in the sales price to original list price ratio which went up to 97.56%.
Goleta North has also seen a decline in sales falling from 38 to 30 for a 23% drop but unlike Goleta South the median sales price in the North has gone up from $375,050 to $408,500.
The decline in the numbers of condo sales is much more pronounced when compared to the drop in Home sales. Condo buyers would be the ones more substantially affected by the ending of the 1st Time Buyer credit and the numbers we see in this sector more closely resemble the numbers we see in the rest of the country for home sales. Just like with home sales those three factors of 1st Time Buyer Credit, Seasonal Slowdown and the spectrum of more foreclosures about to be released is affecting whether people are going to buy or not.
Overall Santa Barbara is doing better than most of the rest of the country when you look at the Real Estate market even with sales dropping. There is a lot of uncertainty out there which rightfully makes buyers timid. The results of the upcoming elections could resolve some of that insecurity but there are still a lot of questions to be answered before we’ll see a big surge in both numbers of units sold and a rise in the median sales price will occur.
Gary Woods
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Weekly Real Estate Snapshot 10/4 - 10/10
New Listings: 41
Price Improvements: 41
Pending: 28 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 23
$1-2 million: 3
$2-4 million: 1
$4-8 million: 0
$8 million+: 1
Closed: 18 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 11
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 1
$4-8 million: 0
$8 million+: 0
Off Market (expired, canceled, withdrawn): 31
Back On Market: 16
Price Improvements: 41
Pending: 28 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 23
$1-2 million: 3
$2-4 million: 1
$4-8 million: 0
$8 million+: 1
Closed: 18 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 11
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 1
$4-8 million: 0
$8 million+: 0
Off Market (expired, canceled, withdrawn): 31
Back On Market: 16
Friday, October 8, 2010
Habitat For Humanity Tour of Green Homes Tomorrow!
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