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Santa Barbara Real Estate Update ~ February 2014

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SINGLE FAMILY HOMES:  Santa Barbara Real Estate Update through the end of February‘14 for Montecito, Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria and Summerland

This is an analysis of the Santa Barbara Real Estate market including Carpinteria/Summerland, Montecito, Hope Ranch, downtown Santa Barbara and Goleta through the month of February 2014. For the Home Estate/PUD market the numbers of sales fell from the previous month to about 55 in February from 72 in January and 102 in December. The Median Sales price for the month also dropped going down to about $970,000 in February from about $1.25 million in January and $986,000 in December. But, the opened escrows rose in February to about 75 from approximately 65 in January and the 69 we saw in December while the median list price on those escrows rose from $995,000 in January to about $1.15 million in February. There were approximately 125 new listings that came on the market in February with a median list price of approximately $1.4 million and an average list price of just about $2 million which left the overall inventory rising from about 240 units for sale at the start of February to 247 at the start of March.

Year over year home sales are down about 22% from the start of 2013 but the median sales price is up to about $1,075,000 from about $875,000 at the start of last year. The average sales price is also up slightly going from about $1.475 million in 2013 to approximately $1.5 million in 2014 while the numbers of escrows are down with about 200 thru February ’13 to roughly 140 thru Feb‘14 but the median list price on those escrows is up about 14% to approximately $1 million.

Looking at the Districts, Carpinteria/Summerland sales are down from 15 to 6 but the median sales price is up from $825,000 to $1,620,730. The numbers of escrows are also down from 17 to 10 with the median list price on those escrows rising from $817,000 last year to $1,167,500 this year.

For Montecito, sales are down going from 35 to 27 with the median sales price falling from $2.74 million to $2.06 million. Escrows are also down going from 42 to 18 but the median list price on those escrows is up from $2.595 million to $2.75 million.

East of State St sales are up going from 32 in ’13 to 44 in ‘14 and the median sales price is up from $895,000 to $1,196,000. The escrows went down from 48 to 38 with the median list price on those escrows rising from $989,000 last year to $1.295 million this year.

West of State St sales are up from 29 to 33 and the median sales price is up from $711,444 to $942,200. The numbers of escrows are down with 40 in ’13 compared to 31 in ‘14 but the median list price on those escrows is up from $844,000 last year to $897,000 this year.

Hope Ranch sales are down from 6 to 3 but the median sales price is up from $2.341 million to $4.537 million. The numbers of escrows are up with 6 last year compared to 7 this year and the median list price on those escrows is up from $1.86 million in ’13 to $4.995 million in ‘14.

Goleta South sales are down with 22 last year and 7 this year but the median sales price is up from $676,000 to $705,000. The numbers of escrows are down from 14 to 7 with the median list price on those escrows rising from $699,900 to $700,000.

Goleta North sales are down with 26 in ’13 to 16 in ’14 with the median sales price rising from $707,742 to $826,650. The numbers of escrows are down from 35 to 27 with the median list price on those escrows going from $729,500 to $764,750.

 

CONDOS: For the Condo segment of the market sales came in around 30 in February rising from 19 in January but down from 36 in December. The median sales price fell however from $599,000 in January to roughly $535,000 in February while the numbers of escrows rose from 23 in January to about 35 in February with the median list price on those escrows falling from $550,000 in January to about $545,000 in February.

There were approximately 50 new condo listings that came on the market for the month with a median list price of about $595,000 rising from $580,000 the previous month and an average list price of approximately $730,000 going up from about $630,000 in January while the overall inventory rose slightly in January from about 95 units for sale at the start of February to approximately 100 at the start of March.
Looking at the Districts, Carpinteria/Summerland sales are down from 9 to 4 with the median sales price rising from $445,382 to $598,750. The numbers of escrows are also down from 14 last year to 5 this year but the median list price on those escrows is up from $437,000 to $478,500.

Montecito condo sales are down with 5 in ’13 and 1 in ‘14 down and the median sales price is down from $852,500 to $850,000. The numbers of escrows are also down with 7 in ’13 and 4 in ‘14 while the median list price on those escrows is up from $815,000 in ’13 to $900,000 in ‘14.

East of State St sales are up from 11 to 17 with the median sales price rising from $498,500 to $599,000. The numbers of escrows are up going from 12 to 16 with the median list price on those escrows up from $498,750 last year to $660,000 this year.

West of State St sales are down from 15 to 9 with the median sales price rising from $415,000 to $569,000. The escrows are up from 19 to 20 with the median list price on those escrows going from $512,000 to $584,000.

Goleta South sales are even from 8 to 8 with the median sales price up from $423,000 to $445,000. The numbers of escrows are up with 10 in ’13 and 11 in ‘14 with the median list price on those escrows up from $409,000 last year to $475,000 this year.

Goleta North sales are even from 10 to 10 with the median sales price up from $285,000 to $430,000. The escrows are up however from 5 to 6 with the median list price on those escrows going up from $369,000 to $424,500.

Through the end of February sales of single family homes is about 20% down from ’13 while the median sales price for those homes is up to about $1.075 million from approximately $875,000 last year. For condos, sales are also down roughly 13% with the median sales price up about 22% to roughly $540,000. Of the single family homes that sold for the month roughly 25% of those sales were over the asking price and for condos that number was about 7.1%. The average over asking price for homes that sold was about 2.4% and for condos that number was about 1.8%.

At the beginning of 2014 sales of both single family homes and condos are down substantially while the median sales price for both segments is up. Just as I said last month for 2014 the real estate market is still dependent on the inventory. If the listings start increasing then the numbers of sales will rise and the median sales price will moderate. But, if listings remain stagnant then sales will decrease but the median sales price will continue to go up.

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