Santa Barbara Real Estate
Market Analysis August 2016

by: Scott Westlotorn 9/15/16

The real estate market for Single Family Residences on the South Coast of Santa Barbara maintained its median price strength in August with a 7% increase year over year. The number of properties PENDING dropped 6.4% and SALES were down 8.5% with the average DAYS ON MARKET (DOM) increasing to 65 days from 40. The number of homes for sale remains historically low but 40% higher than last August. Here’s what the August 2016 numbers look like at a glance:

*Data from Santa Barbara MLS, deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 

With buyer’s having more homes to choose from accompanied by higher prices the bias seems to have moved into the buyer’s court as evidenced by the drop in pending sales, closed escrows, and the list-to-sales-price ratio.

September Open House Reports show there are buyers actively looking, just not as many as there were in the Spring as families have settled in for the school year. The luxury end of the market has been slower than it had been with only two sales above $5mm, the highest being $11,450,000. The most active area of the market has been consistently in the $700,000 to $900,000 range for all of this year with the largest number of sales occurring in the $750,000 to $800,000 price range.

Through the end of 2016 it’s any body’s guess how the market will respond to a rise in interest rates which is the most important factor to real estate sales. The primary markets in California have slowed dramatically particularly in the Bay Area where Silicon Valley growth has made real estate unaffordable to the rank and file buyer and the luxury buyer chases value in other areas of the state.  This may bode well for Santa Barbara!