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Santa Barbara Real Estate through the end of December 2014

Santa Barbara Real Estate through the end of December 2014

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 December 2014.  For the Single Family Home market the numbers of sales rose slightly from the previous month to about 80 in December rising from 73 in November but down from the 87 we saw in October.  The Median Sales Price also rose for the month going to about $990,000 in December from $945,000 in November and the $985,000 we saw in October.  The opened escrows also remained stable in December going to about 74 from 72 in November but down from the 104 we saw in October, while the median list price on those escrows rose from $1,010,000 in November to about $1,095,000 in December.  There were approximately 59 new listings that came on the market in December with a median list price of approximately $1,295,000 million and an average list price of just about $2.075 million, which left the overall inventory falling from 278 units for sale in November to roughly 220 in December.

Year over year sales are down about 17% from 2013 but the median sales price is up to about $1.12 million for approximately an 18.5% rise.  The average sales price is also up going from about $1.4 million in 2013 to approximately $1.7 million in 2014 for another 18.5% rise, while the numbers of escrows are down with about 1,230 in ’13 to roughly 1,070 in ‘14 for a 13% drop with the median list price on those escrows up about 18% to approximately $1.15 million.

For the Condo segment of the market, sales rose to around 46 in December from 39 in November and 40 in October.  The median sales price fell however from $735,000 in November to roughly $525,000 in December, while the numbers of escrows fell from 44 in November to about 38 in December with the median list price on those escrows rising just a little from $572,000 in November to about $572,500 in December.

There were about 30 new condo listings that came on the market for the month with a median list price of approximately $570,000 falling from $599,000 in November and an average list price of approximately $655,000 falling from about $750,000 in November, while the overall inventory fell for the month from 105 units for sale in November to approximately 85 in December.

Through the end of December sales of single-family homes are down about 17% while the median sales price for those homes is up about 19%.  For condos, sales are down approximately 2% with the median sales price up about 10%.  Of the single-family homes that sold for the month roughly 9% of those sales were over the asking price and for condos that number was also 9%.  The average over asking price for homes that sold was about 3% and for condos that number was about 4%.  On the other side of the coin 15% of the single-family homes had a price reduction and 18% of the condos dropped their price.

At the end of 2014 sales of single-family homes went down significantly while the median sales price for those homes went up significantly.  But, with new listings declining 4 years in row it looks like the numbers of sales will continue to decline in 2015.  Also, despite the huge run up in the median sales price for the year that rise started cooling in the last 5 months of the year with the median sales price declining 4 months in a row.  If interest rates start to move up then prices will fall but if interest rates remain low then prices should flatten out.  For 2015 the real estate market is dependent on the inventory.  If the listings start increasing reversing the trend of the previous 4 years then the sales will rise but if listings remain stagnant then sales will continue to decrease.

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Santa Barbara, CA 93108