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 March 2012. For the Home market after experiencing about 70 sales in January and February the numbers of sales rose to 99 in March. To emphasize that rise in activity, not only did the numbers of sales go up but the median sales price also went up to about $845,000 from $677,500 in February.
Escrows also surged for the month rising from about 100 which we saw from December through February to approximately 125 for March. The median list price on those escrows also rose from $769,000 in February to about $805,000 in March. What fell however was the Sales Price to Original Price Ratio which declined from about 90% in February to the low 80s in March. When you put that together with the rise in the Days on the Market that it took to get an accepted offer on the 99 sales it shows that buyers are at least a little more cautious as we move into quarter two despite the overall increase in market movement.
Comparing the first 3 months of 2011 with the same period in 2012, sales are up about 35% with escrows up over 50% and the median sales price is up bit while the average sales prices is down a bit. Year over year the Sales Price to Original Price ratio is within 2% of where it was last year and the Days on the Market for sold properties is within 12 days of where it was in 2011.
For the Condo segment of the market sales about doubled from February when there were 18 to over 40 in March. The median sales price also went up from $361,000 to over $405,000 in March and even the Sales Price to Original List Price ratio rose from 90% to 93% for the month. What came down substantially were the Days on the Market which declined from 102 in February to about 79 in March.
Looking at the Year over Year numbers, condo sales are up about 35% and escrows are up 130%. The median sales price is up slightly with the average sales price down approximately 10%. But, the median list price on condos in escrows is up 5%. The Sales Price to Original List Price ratio is also up from 90% to 92% and the Days on the Market for sold properties has fallen 86 to the mid-70s.
As we enter quarter 2 both the Home and Condo markets look to be in good shape. Sales are up for both segments as are escrows with condos leading the way in that category with an over 130% rise from 2011. The median sales price is up for single family homes and condos but the condo market should start seeing prices go substantially up because of the median list price of properties currently in escrow.
Higher priced home sales lead the way in March with 1 sale coming in over $19 million but there were also a total of 5 sales over $5 million. In the condo market the top sale was for $2.75 million and another sale in the $1.1 million range but below that the next highest sale was in the $650,000 range. Sales and escrows should remain strong through quarter 2 with prices starting to rise for both condos and single family homes.
