How’s the Market?  Our real estate market is dynamic; many buyers and sellers are making changes right now as they consider their needs, desires, and dreams.

We continue to have a high demand for properties in Santa Barbara as seen by our sales volume exceeding our historic averages.  For the last 12 months, 2,515 homes and condos sold.  Over the previous 5 years (2015-2019), sales have averaged consistently around 1,827 properties per year.  For our last 12 months (June 2020 – May 2021), sales have increased by 38%.

With this continuing, our active inventory of available homes/condos for sale continues to stay very low.  We have less than a one-month supply of homes & condos.  As of June 29th, 181 properties were for sale, which is less than the 208 homes sold in May of 2021.

Not to be overlooked, Buyers are finding homes!  And a lot more than normal.  It is possible to find that great place, but more than ever it makes good sense to be on our toes, searching for upcoming listings, and ready when a listing hits the market.  And maybe a little more patience helps too.

With the demand, home and condo prices continue to reach new highs.  Year-to-date, the combined median home & condo price is up 29% compared to 2020.  Comparing today’s median price to pre-COVID pricing, the median is up almost 50%.

Looking deeper at a property-by-property comparison, prices have not quite jumped up 50%.  The prices have increased significantly, but it needs to be evaluated in a more market segment-specific way comparing condos, entry-level, mid-level, or luxury. For instance, our entry-level single-family home prices have increased by around 30-35% since the beginning of COVID.

What continues to skew the median price up is the incredible increased activity in the higher-end luxury market.  Montecito’s sales volume over the last twelve months simply has been unprecedented.

And with that prices have risen in Montecito, the median year-to-date reached $4,284,000, this is way up from both 2019 & 2020 median prices which were both in the mid $2.7M range.

As we did deeper, even in the luxury market, the ultra-luxury homes are seeing the biggest change.  For the first five months of 2021, 28 properties sold above $10M.  Over the last 18 years, the most sales in the $10M+ market were 21 sales in a calendar year.  We have never experienced volume like this in a year, let alone in the first 5 months.

The increased interest in our small real estate market is incredible.  We live in a great place!

THE HIGH & LOW

May 2021 Highest Sale  | 1150 Channel Dr, Montecito |  Sold for $22,995,000

May 2021 Lowest Home Sale  | 711 Spring St, Santa Barbara |  Sold for $749,900

May Statistics

2021 | Year-To-Date

• Total Sales:   960 in ’21 vs 564 in ’20  |  UP 70%
• Total Home Sales:   693 in ’21 vs 413 in ’20  |  UP 68%
• Total Condo Sales:   267 in ’21 vs 151 in ’20  |  UP 77%
• Median Home Price:  $1,995,000 in ’21 vs $1,250,000 in ’20  |  UP 60%
• Median Condo Price:   $819,250 in ’21 vs $760,000 in ’20  |  UP 8%
• Sales Above $5M:   97 in ’21 vs 22 in ’20  |  UP 341%

May 2021

• Total Sales:   208 in ’21 vs 85 in ’20  |  UP 145%
• Pending Sales:   176 in ’21 vs 136 in ’20  |  UP 29%
• Total Off-Market Sales:   28 Sales  |  13%
• Total Cash Sales:   81 Sales  |  39%
• Average 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage:   3.19% as of June 229, 2021