Quick Statistics

The average price for the 68 properties is $1,236,060.

The highest price is $7,350,000 - 4229 Mariposa Dr.

The median price is $880,000

The lowest price is $405,000 - 714 Cook Ave.

The average Market Time is 86.

Overview:

Sales are up for both Home Estate/PUDs and Condos but the median sales price has declined for both property types. There's some upward pressure for Home prices below $1 million and more activity in the higher priced condos should bring up the median sales price for that category. Increased inventory is still the key to maintaining momentum particularly in that $650,000 to $900,000 range for homes and the sub $500,000 range for condos.

Home Estate/PUD

For the Home Estate/PUD market of Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta, the number of sales rose to the high 60s in March from the mid 40s in February. The median sales price also came up and has risen every month from the first of the year.  It was sitting at about $890,000 for March.  The average sales price continued to hover right around $1.25 million for both February and March falling from approximately $1.3 million in January.

What really came up for the month was the numbers of opened escrows. Starting in January escrows were in the low 50s followed by February which saw pending properties rise to 65 and in March that number rose to over 100. What did not come up much was the inventory which rose by less than 5% from the previous month putting it in the mid 500 bracket.

For the first 3 months of 2010 compared to the same period for 2009, the numbers of sales is up by about 20% rising to the mid 170s. However, the median sales price is down slightly falling from $822,500 last year to about $812,500 this year.  Interestingly, the average sales price went up this year from $1,185,336 in 2009 to about $1.27 million this year. With the numbers of sales rising the numbers of escrows are also up about 20% and the median list price on those escrows is up from $859,000 last year to about $875,000 this year.

Carpinteria/Summerland: Sales are still more than triple what they were last year at this time rising from 6 in 2009 to 19 in 2010. The median sales price also came up from just below $600,000 last year to about $850,000 this year.

Montecito: Sales activity is the same for both years with 24 closed transactions but the median sales price has declined from $2.5 million last year to $2.1 million this year.

East of State St: Sales have gone up from 33 in 2009 to 47 in 2010 but the median sales price fell from $970,000 last year to about $903,000 this year. West of State St: Sales rose from 34 last year to 39 this year and the median sales price has come up for the area from $725,000 last year to $780,000 this year.

Hope Ranch: Sales have gone from 2 last year to 5 this year and the median sales price has gone from $2.365 million in 2009 to about $3.5 million this year.

Goleta South: Sales are down slightly from 18 to 16 this year and the median sales price has declined from $655,000 in 2009 to $606,000 in 2010. Goleta North: Sales are right where they were last year with 33 sales in both years with the median sales price also dropping from $707,500 last year to $682,500 this year.

With both sales and escrows rising about 20% for the year the median sales price is slightly behind where it was last year following a very slow start pricewise this year. The median sales price looks like it should start going up gradually however with more sales occurring in the $1 to $2 million and the $2 million and up range.

Condos

After seeing declining numbers of sales for the past 5 months, sales started to rise in March going from 18 in February to 26 in March.  However, the median sales price declined for the month dropping from $457,500 in February to $417,500 in March. The numbers of condos going into escrow also rose in March coming up from 25 in February to 40 in March but the median list price on those condos going into escrow fell from just under $500,000 in February to about $420,000 in March.

Comparing the first quarter of 2009 to the same period in 2010 the numbers of sales are way up going from 36 last year to 65 this year.   This is an 80% rise! However, the median sales price has declined from $483,750 last year to $420,000 this year for a 13% drop. The number of escrows is also up with 91 this year compared to 62 in 2009 - a 47% rise.  The median list price on those escrows is down by 11% falling from $489,000 last year to $434,900 this year.

Somewhat surprisingly, the condo inventory did not come up substantially for the month remaining in the low 140 range for Carpinteria to Goleta but the median list price of the inventory rose from just under $600,000 to about $630,000 during March.

Carpinteria/Summerland: Sales rose from 8 last year to 14 this year, but the median sales price has fallen from $436,250 in 2009 to $386,850 in 2010.

Montecito: There have been 5 condo sales this year with a median sales price of $1,075,000 compared to no sales last year.

East of State St: Sales are way up rising from 8 last year to 16 this year but the median sales price has declined from $573,000 in 2009 to $417,500 in 2010.

West of State St: Saw a rise in the numbers of sales coming up from 10 in 2009 to 17 in 2010 but the median sales price has declined from $522,500 to $443,000.

Goleta South: Sales are from last year rose from 6 in 2009 to 7 in 2010. However, the median sales price for the area declined from $372,000 last year to $260,000 this year.

Goleta North: Sales rose from 5 in 2009 to 7 in 2010.  The median sales price remained essentially stable; it fell slightly from $460,000 last year to $455,000 this year.