The month of July ’09 as far as the Home Estate/PUD market for Santa Barbara Real Estate, Montecito Real Estate, Hope Ranch Real Estate, Carpinteria Real Estate, Summerland Real Estate and Goleta Real Estate is concerned was the second month in a row with sales in the 80’s. We haven’t seen numbers like this since August ’07 so hopefully we’re rounding the bend to some sort of recovery for local Real Estate in Santa Barbara at least as far as numbers of sales is concerned. The big news for July is that the Median Sales Price went from the high $700,000s in June to the high $800,000s in July. With the Median Sales Price climbing the Sales Price to Original List Price ratio stayed about where it was in June in the mid to high 80th percentile so it looks like prices are starting to firm up with several properties selling with multiple offers.
The pending properties for July weren’t quite as prevalent as they were in June when they reached 90 but the homes starting the buying process were still in the low to mid 80’s which means that the sales activity should continue for the foreseeable future. The median list price for those homes entering escrow remains in the mid to high $800,000 range so it looks like most of the action continues in the $500,000 to almost $900,000 range.
For sold homes the average days on the market which is the time from when a property is listed until an accepted offer is received remained in the mid 70s for July which is down from the mid 90s earlier in the year. The inventory had a surge in July up to the mid to high 600s with the median list price for the overall inventory sliding slightly down to just below $1.8 million and the overall days on the market going down from the high 140s to the high 120s.
Looking at the Districts for Home Estate/PUDs, Carpinteria/Summerland has almost exactly the same numbers of sales as it had at this time in ’08 but the median sales price has fallen about $250,000 to roughly $700,000. Montecito continues to experience about 30% fewer sales this year than it did last year with the median sales price down about $1.1 million to roughly $2.25 million.
The sales for East of State St are currently ahead of the ’08 level but the median sales price is down by about $240,000 to roughly $900,000. Over on the West Side Sales remain ahead of the ’08 pace but the median sales price is down about $225,000 to approximately $750,000
In Hope Ranch Sales continue 3 behind where they were in ’08 with both the median and average sales prices holding at approximately last year’s levels. The current median sales price for the area is $2.35 million and the current average sales price is about $3.03 million.
Goleta South sales continue to hold at about the ’08 level with the median sales price down by about $50,000 to about $720,000. Goleta North sales continue to amaze me. The inventory is way down but the sales are only slightly behind what we experienced last year. The reason for maintaining this level in sales is that the median sales price has fallen about $150,000 down to the current number of approximately $700,000.
For the whole area sales are just slightly behind where they were in ’08 with the pending sales slightly ahead. The median sales price has remained for the last few months right around the mid $800,000 level but is showing signs of moving up.
For the Condo market in July ’09 for the Santa Barbara area it would have been difficult to equal the 43 sales we saw in June but we did have sales in the low to mid 30’s. While the sales declined the median sales price did come up to the high $400,000 range from the mid $400,000 range of the past few months and the Sales Price to Original List Price ratio came up to right about 90%.
There has been a tremendous amount of activity in the $400,000 to $500,000 market for condos in Santa Barbara the last few months with multiple offers and properties going for over their asking price.
The surge in activity should continue because July experienced properties going pending in the high 30s to mid 40s ranges. The median list price for those condos entering escrow slid back however to the mid $400,000 range but we’ll have to see whether some of those over asking offers will push the median sales price upward.
Average days on the market for sold properties fell to the mid 60s range from the mid 80s range last month also enforcing the feeling that the market is moving at a faster pace. The overall inventory took another downturn in July however falling to the mid 150s level with the overall median list price remaining at about $650,000. The lack of inventory remains a problem which could keep a recovery from really catching hold.
Condo sales for all of ’09 remain ahead of the ’08 pace with the median sales price staying about $110,000 below where it was last year at this time currently hovering around $470,000. Pending properties continue to be about 35% ahead of last year’s numbers with the median list price for those pended properties down about $140,000 to the current level of about $460,000.
Looking at the Districts, Carpinteria/Summerland condo sales are roughly 50% ahead of where they were last year but the median sales price is down about $80,000 from the ’08 number to approximately $400,000. In Montecito there have been only 2 sales all year down from 11 last year but we finally saw our first Million Dollar sale of a Montecito Condo in ’09 bringing the median sales price up to $1,064,500 which is down about $500,000 from last year.
East of State St has seen sales about equal and slightly ahead of last year’s mark but the median sales price for the area is down $130,000 to the current number of approximately $520,000. West of State is also about where it was last year as far as numbers of sales is concerned but the median sales price has gone down about $70,000 to around $500,000.
Goleta South has almost exactly the same number of sales as it had last year but the median sales price has fallen about $140,000 for the area to about $440,000 and Goleta North is about 4 sales ahead of the ’08 level but the median sales price is down about $100,000 to roughly $380,000.
There’s a great deal of activity in the condo market right now which is primarily concentrated in the $350,000 to $600,000 range but the Million Dollar condo has made a comeback. There were 3 condo sales in June and 3 in July which were in the Million Dollar plus bracket with Montecito finally experiencing a sale in that range this year. We need more inventory at this time to keep up with the demand in the Condo marketplace. If those properties start coming on the market at a greater rate we could be on the road to recovery.
Gary Woods