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 2015. For the Home Estate/PUD
market the numbers of sales fell from the previous month to 56 in February from
69 in January and 80 in December. The Median Sales price rose however going to
$1,035,000 in February from $1,000,000 in January and $962,500 in December. The opened escrows rose in February to 122
from 71 in January and the 70 we saw in December while the median list price on
those escrows stayed steady from $1,050,000 in January to about $1,050,000 in
February. There were 138 new listings that came on the market in February with
a median list price of approximately $1.6 million and an average list price of just
about $4.1 million which left the overall inventory rising from 247 units for
sale at the start of February to roughly 260 at the start of March.
Year over year home sales are down about 3.1% from the
start of 2014 and the median sales price is down to $1,000,000 from $1,087,500
at the start of last year. The average sales price is up however going from $1.536
million in 2014 to approximately $2.21 million in 2015 while the numbers of
escrows are up with about 134 thru February ’14 to 192 thru Feb‘15 but, the
median list price on those escrows is basically unchanged at roughly $1,050,000.
Looking at the
Districts, Carpinteria/Summerland sales are up from 6 to 13 but the median
sales price is down from $1,620,365 to $915,000. The numbers of escrows are also
up from 10 to 19 with the median list price on those escrows falling from $1,167,500
last year to $859,000 this year.
For
Montecito, sales are down going from 28 to 23 with the median sales price rising
from $2.112 million to $4.09 million. Escrows are up however going from 18 to 30
but the median list price on those escrows is up from $2.772 million to $2.95
million.
East of State St sales are down
going from 44 in ’14 to 29 in ‘15 and the median sales price is down from $1,173,000
to $1,084,450. The escrows went up however from 38 to 47 with the median list
price on those escrows falling from $1,295,000 last year to $1.294 million this
year.
West of State St sales are up
from 33 to 34 and the median sales price is down from $942,200 to $850,000. The
numbers of escrows are up however with 30 in ’14 compared to 38 in ‘15 and the
median list price on those escrows is up from $897,000 last year to $929,500
this year.
Hope Ranch sales are up from 3 to
8 but the median sales price is down from $4.537 million to $2.95 million. The
numbers of escrows are also up with 7 last year compared to 11 this year but
the median list price on those escrows is down from $4.995 million in ’14 to
$3.159 million in ‘15.
Goleta South sales are up with 7 last
year and 10 this year but the median sales price is up from $705,000 to $712,500.
The numbers of escrows are up however from 7 to 17 with the median list price
on those escrows rising from $700,000 to $794,000.
Goleta North sales are up with 16
in ’14 to 19 in ’15 with the median sales price rising from $826,650 to $827,500.
The numbers of escrows are also up from 26 to 29 with the median list price on
those escrows going from $764,750 to $884,000.
For the Condo segment of
the market sales came in around 27 in February from 24 in January and 47 in December.
The median sales price fell from $565,000 in January to roughly $542,500 in February
while the numbers of escrows rose from 34 in January to 38 in February with the
median list price on those escrows falling from $612,000 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 $560,000 rising from $549,500 the previous month and an average
list price of approximately $705,000 going down from $732,707 in January. The
overall inventory fell slightly in January from 94 units for sale at the start
of February to 83 at the start of March.
Looking at the Districts,
Carpinteria/Summerland sales are up from 4 to11 with the median sales price falling
from $598,750 to $484,500. The numbers of escrows are also up from 5 last year
to 17 this year but the median list price on those escrows is down from $478,500
to $464,500.
Montecito condo sales are up with 1
in ’14 and 5 in ‘15 down and the median sales price is up from $850,000 to $1,550,000.
The numbers of escrows are also up with 4 in ’14 and 6 in ‘15 while the median
list price on those escrows is up from $900,000 in ’14 to $945,000 in ‘15.
East of State St sales are even
from 17 to 17 with the median sales price falling from $599,000 to $552,500. The
numbers of escrows are up however going from 16 to 21 with the median list
price on those escrows up from $622,500 last year to $654,000 this year.
West of State St sales are up from
9 to 15 with the median sales price rising from $569,000 to $610,000. The escrows
are up from 16 to 17 with the median list price on those escrows going from
$614,000 to $627,000.
Goleta South sales are down from 9 to 8 with the median sales price up from
$465,000 to $557,500. The numbers of escrows are up however with 10 in ’14 and
13 in ‘15 with the median list price on those escrows down from $525,000 last
year to $485,000 this year.
Goleta North sales are
down from 10 to 5 with the median sales price up from $430,000 to $499,000. The
escrows are up however from 6 to 9 with the median list price on those escrows
going up from $424,500 to $489,000.
Through the end of February sales of single family
homes is down about 3.1% from ’14 while the median sales price for those homes
is down to $1,000,000 from $1,087,500 last year. For condos, sales are up just
slightly with the median sales price up about 3% to roughly $560,000. Of the single-family
homes that sold for the month roughly 11.1% of those sales were over the asking
price and for condos that number was also about 11.1%. The average over asking price for homes that
sold was about 1.01% and for condos that number was also about 1.01%. On the
other side of the coin 17.5% of the single family homes had price reductions
and 30% of the condos went down in price.
At the beginning of 2015 sales of single-family homes
is down about 3.1% while condos are basically where they were at the start of
2014. The big stories for the year are
the high end with 17 sales over $5 million and escrows are up substantially for
both homes and condos. Currently the inventory is up for homes but flat for
condos so if the listings continue up for homes then 2015 will be a robust
year. But, if the pattern continues for
condos then their sales will flatten out.
Gary Woods
March 2015
Optimism about Fed policy helped
mortgage rates improve early in the week. The rally may have been overdone, however,
and the gains were lost later in the week. As a result, mortgage rates ended
the week just a little higher.
