February 2011 Market Update

Quick Statistics

The average price for the 49 properties is $1,190,414.

The highest price is $6,100,000 for 440 Via Dichosa.

The median price is $845,000.

The lowest price is $335,900 for 4870 5th St.

The average Market Time is 118.

 

Overview:

Home sales in Santa Barbara while starting off slowly about 15% down from last year should rebound because the escrows are 30% ahead. The median sales price for now should remain at around $850,000 with some upward pressure in the $500,000 $700,000 range. For the $1 to $2 million market prices remain soft and even softer above $2 million. Condos on the other hand are also starting the year slowly with 18% fewer sales but there are also 17% fewer escrows. Prices may have stabilized for condos but there could be some further price erosion.

 

Home Estate/PUD

For the Home Estate/PUD market for Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta for the month of February 2011 there were 49 rising from 42 the previous month. The median sales price also went up from about $820,000 in January to $845,000 in February. The average sales price also rose from $1.155 million to $1.19 million. Going up as well were the numbers of opened escrows rising from 65 in January with a median list price of $845,000 to 80 in February with the median list price dropping a little to $800,000.

There were about 140 new listings in the month with a median list price of about $1.15 million and an average list price of just under $2 million and the overall inventory also started to creep up with 478 active listings at the end of the month rising from 472 the previous month. The median list price on the entire inventory remained at around $1.549 million however with the average list price hovering around $3.257 million.

Looking at the year over year numbers, sales are down from 107 in ’10 to around 90 in ’11 but the median sales price went up from $775,000 last year to approximately $830,000 this year. The average sales price was down a little however going from $1.279 million last year to $1.174 million this year. The time it took to get an accepted offer remained right around 100 days for both years however while the sales price to original list price ratio rose from 77.2% in ’10 to 86% in ‘11.

 

Carpinteria/Summerland: Sales are down by about half falling from 14 to 8 and the median sales price declined from $835,000 to $672,500. The numbers of escrows is up however going from 7 to 10 and the median list price on those escrows is up from $599,000 last year to $725,000 this year.

Montecito: Sales are down from 15 to 12 with the median sales price dropping from just over $2 million to $1.75 million. The average sales price is way down however going from $4.13 million to $2.41 million while the numbers of escrows are up from 16 to 21 with the median list price on those escrows up from $1.8 million to $2.5 million.

East of State St: Sales are way down from 35 to 24 but the median sales price is up from $825,000 to $935,000. The average sales price is also up from about $950,000 last year to right around $1.1 million and the numbers of escrows are up from 31 with a median list price of $900,000 to 45 with a median list price of $995,000.

West of State St: Sales are up from 18 to 25 but the median sales price is down from $760,000 in ‘10 to $730,000 ‘11. The average sales price is up however going from about $900,000 to just over $1 million. The numbers of escrows are also up from 20 with a median list price of $749,000 to 32 with a median list price of $710,000.

Hope Ranch: Has experienced 3 sales this year compared to 2 last year but the median sales price fell from $3.6 million to $1.6 million while the average declined from $3.6 million to $3 million. There were 6 escrows in both years with the median list price on those escrows going from $1.8 million last year to $2 million this year.

Goleta South: Sales fell from 10 to 5 but the median sales price went up from $546,000 to $707,500. The average sales price also went up from $562,732 to $708,750. But, the numbers of escrows are way up going from 8 with a median list price of $729,000 to 14 with a median list price of $575,000.

Goleta North: Sales are up from 19 to 24 with the median sales price rising from $680,000 to $705,000. The average sales price also went up from $718,744 to $955,631. The numbers of escrows are up slightly from 24 with a median list price of $749,900 to 26 with a median list price of $699,000.

 

 

Condos

For the condo market in Santa Barbara sales remained somewhat sluggish in the second month of 2011 with 16 sales which is exactly what we had in January. The median sales price did come up a bit from $382,000 in January to $422,500 in February and the average sales price also rose, going from $439,150 in January to $572,250 in February. This substantial gain was the result of 2 sales over $1 million with one of those being over $2 million. The average days on the market, or the time that it took to get an accepted offer went down in February to 71 which was the average throughout most of 2010 dropping from 101 in January.

The numbers of escrows also came up in February to 24 with a median list price of $415,750 from 16 in January with a median list price of $385,000. But, even though the pended listings increased for the month we still remain about 17% behind the ’10 escrows with sales 18% behind last year’s numbers.

There were 34 new listings that came on the market in February with a median list price of $425,000 and an average list price of $536,110. But the overall inventory remained around 150 condos available for purchase in the area with a median list price of about $560,000 and an average list price of approximately $730,000.

 

Carpinteria/Summerland: Has one more sale this year with 9 but the median sales price fell a bit from $367,500 to $350,000. The average sales price went up substantially however from $357,150 to $518,877 because of a $2 million sale in the area.

Montecito: There were 3 sales last year and 4 sales this year but the median sales price fell from $1,075,000 in ’10 to $645,000 in ’11. The average sales price fell even further from $1,708,333 to $688,333.

East of State St: Sales are way down from 11 in ’10 to 4 in ’11 but the median sales price is up from $323,500 last year to $429,750 this year. The average sales price is also up from $415,545 to $544,875.

West of State St: Sales are also down from 9 to 4. But, unlike the East Side the median sales price is also down from $455,500 to $422,500. The average sales price is up however going from $472,062 to $602,500.

Goleta South: After two down years has come up in both numbers of units sold and median sales price. The sales are up from 4 to 10 and the median sales price is up from $347,500 to $369,000. The average sales price is also up from $346,250 to $375,428.

Goleta North: Has exactly the same numbers of sales as it did last year with 5 but the median sales price fell from $459,000 to $399,000. The average sales price went up however from $415,420 to $446,000.