This is an analysis of the Santa Barbara Real Estate Market including Carpinteria, Summerland, Montecito, Santa Barbara and Goleta through the month of June 2012. For the Home market after seeing the median sales price rise from February through May it leveled off in June at around $800,000. The numbers of sales declined from 136 in May to around 120 in June but the Sales Price to Original List Price Ratio rose from 86% in May to 90% in June.
The days on the market for properties that sold during the month remained in the mid-60s and the inventory also stayed right around 400 active properties from Carpinteria to Goleta. The median list price on those active listings also stayed where it was in the previous month at around $1.9 million with the average list price coming in at about $3.6 million.
What went down however was the numbers of homes that went into escrow. They fell from 168 in May with a median list price of $837,000 to around 125 in June with the median list price rising to $849,500. The days on the market for those properties that did go into escrow rose from 61 in May to the mid-80s in June possibly signaling a bit of a slowing in the market.
Year over Year, the numbers are still very strong with sales up about 40% from 430 last year to around 600 this year and the escrows also up approximately 40% from 505 last year to over 700 this year. But, the median sales price has declined roughly 7% from $840,000 to approximately $785,000 with the median list price on the properties in escrow also dropping about 7% from $855,000 to about $800,000
For the Condo segment of the market, after the 28 sales in April rising to 48 in May, sales fell to about 40 in June. The median sales price rose however going from $375,000 in May to $465,000 in June. The primary reason for the condo median sales price spiking upward was the 9 sales recorded in the Bella Riviera complex. Those sales had a low price of about $615,000 with a high of approximately $930,000 for an $835,000 median.
Year over year, condo sales are up from 113 in 2011 to about 190 in 2012 for roughly a 70% rise but the median sales price has gone from $406,000 last year to just about $400,000 this year for a 1.5% downswing. Escrows are up dramatically from 133 in 2011 to about 255 in 2012 for a 90% gain while the median list price on those escrows has gone down slightly from $425,000 to approximately $415,000 for a 2.5% drop. The overall inventory remains at about 100 active listings in June with a median list price of about $585,000 and an average list price of about $770,000.
Looking at the Districts, Carpinteria/Summerland sales are down from 29 to 23 with the median sales price falling from $359,900 to $330,000. The numbers of escrows are also down from 31 last year to 28 this year but the median list price on those escrows is up from $374,000 to $384,500.
In June, sales of both Homes and Condos remained strong but they both fell off from the May numbers. The median sales price for homes leveled off after rising for the previous 4 months but the median sales price of condos rose dramatically primarily because of sales in the Bella Riviera complex. Just as I said last month, because of all the sales and escrows, the inventory will probably remain low with about 400 Homes and 100 Condos available in the area. With that low inventory and high demand prices should start to move up. But, because of the substantial numbers of Short Sales on the market the upward motion in listings and sales prices probably won’t become a surge.
