Quick Statistics

Overview:

With the first time buyer tax credit coming to a close at the end of April we'll have to see whether it will affect the condo buyer who would be impacted most significantly. The Home Estate/PUD market continues to be strong however with some upward pressure on prices in the below $1 million market.

Home Estate/PUD

For the Home Estate/PUD market of Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta, sales were in the mid 80's with the median sales price remaining steady around $880,000. For contrast in April '09 there were 68 sales with an $840,000 median sales price. So, even with the increased activity in the marketplace the median sales price is remaining at around the $860,000 level. But, the average sales price for April '10 was over $2 million compared to April '09 when the average sales price was about $1.3 million signifying a substantial increase in the sales of more pricey homes.

The escrows continued to pile up in April with about 120 new escrows opening which is up from about 100 in March and 62 in February. But, the median list price on those escrows remained around $890,000. What took a tumble in April was the Sales Price to Original List Price Ratio which again dipped to about 77%. This decline in the ratio is due primarily to higher priced properties that have started to sell but at a significant reduction from their original list price.

The inventory went up substantially in April with more than 200 new listings showing up with the overall inventory rising by more than 100 homes from the month of March. We ended April with about 580 properties available for purchase. The new listings median list price of just over $1 million continues to get closer to the median sold price for the month which means that sales should continue to surge forward. Also, the median list price on the overall inventory continues to fall and is currently hovering around $1.7 million down from about $1.8 million for most of '09.

Carpinteria/Summerland: Sales remain about double where they were last year with the median sales price rising about $200,000 to $835,000.

Montecito: Sales are approximately 20% ahead of where they were last year ending the month with 36 but the median sales price is locked at right around $2.4 million for both years.

East of State St: Sales are about a third ahead of where they were last year with 65 closed escrows but the median sales price has dropped about $25,000 to approximately $925,000.

West of State St: Sales are about 10% ahead of where they were last year with 53 purchases so far and the median sales price has come up about $50,000 to $800,000

Hope Ranch: Sales are more than double the numbers of sales from where they were last year with 9 sold properties this year and the median sales price has risen from $2.55 million last year to $3.5 million this year.

Goleta South: Sales are a couple behind where they were last year with 24 through April and the median sales price has declined to $625,000 down from $695,000 last year.

Goleta North: Sales are up by 10% with 50 completed transactions but the median sales price is stable at $715,000 for both years.

The overall median sales price continues to hover at around $860,000 for the area with prices going up in Carpinteria/Summerland, West of State St and Hope Ranch. Montecito and Goleta North prices seem to have stabilized at least compared to '09 with median sales prices falling for East of State St and Goleta South.

Condos

April sales moved up from March ending in the low 30s but the median sales price bounced back up to around $455,000. For most of last year condo median sales prices have hovered right around $450,000 with some months falling into the high $300,000 range and others at just over $500,000.

The Sales Price to Original List Price Ratio remains at about 90% which is illustrated by the median list price of the new listings coming on at about $490,000 and the median sales price at around $450,000. There were about 50 new listings that come on the market in April raising the total inventory to approximately 160 condos for sales from Carpinteria to Goleta.

The escrows did not continue to surge however with just over 40 new transactions starting, which is up slightly from March. The median list price on those escrows did come up however rising from about $430,000 last month to approximately $475,000 this month.

Carpinteria/Summerland: Sales are up by almost double to 20 but the median sales price has fallen about $25,000 to approximately $385,000.

Montecito: There have been 6 sales this year compared to 1 last year with the median sales price right around $1.1 million and the average sales price at $1.4 million.

East of State St: Condo sales are up more than double to 21 but the median sales price is down more than $100,000 to $430,000. The average sales price has also declined from about $630,000 last year to approximately $520,000 this year.

West of State St: Sales are up with 20 closed escrows so far but the median sales price is down by more than $55,000 to $464,500.

Goleta South: There have been 4 more sales this year with a total of 16 compared to last year but the median sales price is down about $125,000 to approximately $275,000.

Goleta North: There have been 13 sales this year compared to 12 last year the median sales price went up about $80,000 to approximately $410,000.