Santa Barbara & Montecito Real Estate, Fine Homes & Estates
New mortgage lending rules resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act took hold this past January that federal regulators are hoping will guard against a future housing collapse. The rules are essentially intended to ensure that borrowers can actually afford the loans they are seeking. Mortgages must now meet “Qualified Mortgage” (QM) guidelines and borrowers will be… more
January 2014 Real Estate Market Statistics reflected a continuation of recent trends… the good news / bad news of rising values met with fewer sales and shrinking inventory. In South Santa Barbara County,* the median home value rose 6% from December and rose 32%year-over-year to $914,000. In Montecito, the median home value of $2.2MM was… more
Happy new year! January 31 marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year … a worldwide celebration also known as “Spring Festival” — or the Lunar New Year that includes elaborate festivals, feasts, travel… lasting as long as 15 days. According to the Chinese Zodiac, we have now entered the Year of the Horse …… more
2013… what a year it was in real estate! In fact, 2013 was truly a tale of two markets. We saw both a frenzy of buying, spurred in part by pent-up demand and a surge in buying from investors, followed by a sudden tapering of demand and a much more moderate tempo in buying patterns…. more
Maurie McGuire