February 2014 ~ Karen Musser Blog

Friday, February 28, 2014

Santa Barbara Real Estate Through The End of January 2014 for Montecito, Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria and Summerland

by Gary Woods

Through the end of January sales of single family homes is about 23.5% down from 2013 while the median sales price for those homes is up to about $1.25 million from approximately $850,000 last year (a 48% increase). For condos, sales are down roughly 27% with the median sales price up about 45%. Of the single family homes that sold for the month roughly 15% of those sales were over the asking price and for condos that number was about 16%. The average over asking price for homes that sold was about 6% and for condos that number was about 2%.

At the beginning of 2014 sales of both single family homes and condos is down substantially while the median sales price for both segments is up. 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.

For a Power Point Presentation also by Gary Woods, please click here.

Santa Barbara Zoning Information Report Update

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A Message From the President of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors
February 12, 2014
credit for photo: Jay Sinclair

Here is an update to our progress so far regarding the issue of Zoning Information Reports (ZIRs). On behalf of the homeowners of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Assocaition of REALTORS is advocating that the ZIRs should be changed from mandatory to voluntary. As you are probably aware, serious concerns have been raised regarding the accuracy and reliability of the reports, their cost, their timeliness (or lack thereof) and the enforcement actions that often follow these "Information" reports.

We have taken the request to make ZIRs voluntary to both the City Council and the Planning Commission. Based on those meetings, City Leaders have asked that a working group be put together to try to solve the issues that we have brought forward. The working group consists of 3 Planning Commisisioners, 2 City Staff members, 3 REALTORS and two staff members of the Santa Barbara Association of REALTORS. At this stage, the talks are only preliminary, but we are hopeful that significant improvements can be made to the ZIR process.

If not, we will be contacting you once again to ask for your support as we take the issue back to the City Council. We will provide additional information as we work through this process. Again, thank for your support and interest in this issue.

Help Conserve Water, Save Money and Prepare for the New Law

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Beginning January 1, 2014, property owners who obtain permits to remodel a property that was built prior to 1994 are required to retrofit with toilets that use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, showerheads with flow rates of no more than 2.5 gallons per minute and other interior fixtures that use less than 2.2 gallons of water per minute.

This will affect all single family property permits, multi-family and commercial property permits where 10% or more of the square footage is included in the remodel. By January 1, 2017, ALL residential properties in California that were built prior to 1994 will need to be in compliance with water fixtures as outlined above, which will bring them up to the same standards as homes built since 1994. The good news is that not only do the newer high quality toilets work well, unlike the early "flush twice" low flow toilets, but they are rather stylish and can upgrade the decor of your bathrooms. The same is true for other plumbing fixtures, providing an opportunity to replace that tired old kitchen faucet.

Although retrofitting of all pre-1994 homes will not be mandated until 2017, making this change now makes a lot of sense - and cents. You have to do it within 3 years anyway, so by doing it now you will start to save money by reducing your water bill and most importantly, you will use less of our precious water during our current statewide drought emergency.