Santa Barbara Luxury Real Estate

In Santa Barbara we may be used to the term May grey but the Santa Barbara Luxury Real Estate market  it is anything but grey with buyers continuing to be active and inventory continuing Aprils trend.  For the month of May sales are up 40% with 475 properties selling compared with 340 for the same period last year which is also confirmed by the number of escrows which is also up 50% from the same period last year. However, for Santa Barbara County as a whole the medium sales price is down a little from $810,000 last year to $795,000 this year, or approximately a 2% reduction, which is a reflection of foreclosed properties and short sales still working their way through the system.
If you look at the numbers for Montecito Luxury Homes the numbers are also in line with overall County wide numbers with the total number of sales up from 64 to 102, a 59% increase, compared with the same period last year and escrows up from 82 to 115. However, the average sales price this year is $3,735,178 compared to $2,862,047 which represents a 30% increase in year over year comparisons with listings selling on average at 92% of their list price and with inventories starting to shrink, with around 400 homes and 100 condos available in the area, we should continue to see list prices and selling prices continue to move upwards.
This is also confirmed by Fannie Mae’s monthly Housing Survey, in which 34% of Americans surveyed, say they are optimistic about home prices and expect them to rise 1.4% within the next 12 months and rental rates to also rise by 4.1%. When asked if they expect mortgage rates to follow suit and start to edge upwards most Americans agreed that they expected rates to rise and that now may be the time to step off the side line and purchase a home.
If your are looking to explore your options in purchasing a new home or selling and finding a different home please contact me at cristal@montecito-estate.com to review your options.