Sales Summary, Last week of 3^rd Quarter

This past week the median price for a property on the South Coast of Santa Barbara remained stable at around $2,100,000. Average Days on Market (DOM) increased to 153 days while inventory remains stubbornly low with 407 single family residences available for sale, a trend that has been with us since inventory peaked in 2010.

Overall there is evidence of the market slowing which can be gauged by the 42% of listings that adjusted their price lower and the increase in DOM to an average of 153. This moved the market bias to shift slightly towards the buyer. We will watch this closely to see if this is a real shift in the market trend or just seasonal slowing that usually occurs around August/September when buyers and sellers are preoccupied with vacations and getting children settled into school.

The area of the market where the bias remains stronger towards Sellers is in the $950,000-and-under Median price range where demand is high and supplies are low. The $1,585,000 Median price range is also strong but to a lesser degree. DOM is 75 and 92 respectively. That of course leaves the highest end of the market where homes traditionally take longer to sell taking most of the burden of slowing sales.

In summary, prices have softened versus the higher levels achieved during the spring and summer. Now with fewer buyers in the marketplace, a decline in inventory, sales and sales prices are to be expected.