Santa Barbara Real Estate Blog

Since 2005, recognized as the peak of the Santa Barbara market, the Santa Barbara home sales data for the month of October has seen significant variability each year. While generally sales and home prices have been dropping slightly, the last year-and-a-half by many indicators besides this month-over-month comparison has appeared to be very flat.  While we like to provide these month-over-month comparisons, we highly recommend NOT drawing conclusions for them, as longer periods of comparison (i.e year over year) are better indicators of market shifts and changes.  Given the smaller number of sales in a shorter time period (one month) the data is less consistent as a longer term analysis.  Stay tuned for a more in-depth market analysis with conclusions on market trends, which will be posted at the end of the year.

The following Santa Barbara home sales charts below have been provided courtesy of First American Title which details the data by area.

If you have any additional questions about the Santa Barbara Real Estate market, please contact Santa Barbara Realtor Daniel Zia (805-637-7148, daniel@theziagroup.com). Daniel and the rest of the Zia Group team are ready to assist you in Santa Barbara home search. You may also visit our website www.theziagroup.com for detailed information on Santa Barbara Neighborhoods as well as many helpful resources such as Automatic Email Home Finder. Thanks for visiting the Santa Barbara Real Estate Blog.

Good news for homeowners in the Santa Barbara area: the September home sales data shows a rise in housing values and an increase in total sales of homes over $1 million compared to the same period in 2009. The average price of homes sold jumped up over $200k to $1.32 million since September 2009, and median price of homes sold also increased by over $100k to $795,000. It is important to note the significance of these price increases because they represent the first time since  September 2007 that average and median home prices in September did not drop in South Santa Barbara County. The following charts display the September home sales data broken down by area for South Santa Barbara County.

If you are interested in more details about the Santa Barbara real estate market, please get in touch with the Zia Group by visiting our Santa Barbara real estate website or by emailing Daniel directly (daniel@theziagroup.com). The Zia Group team is ready to assist you in your Santa Barbara real estate search, and our website is our first step in serving you. Visit today to research Santa Barbara and Montecito neighborhoods, local real estate trends and more. And as always, thanks for visiting the Santa Barbara Real Estate Blog.

A handful of times per year, a fantastic property in Santa Barbara will come on the market and for whatever reason be drastically under priced. This is one of those opportunities. It is a 3/2 home with roughly 1750 SF in a very private and quiet part of the desirable Hope Ranch neighborhood. The house sits at the top of 2.5 acres and offers room for horses, kids to explore, and stunning mountain views. The house sold for $1.8m back in 2006 and I remember having active clients at the time interested in the property at that price as well. The property can easily be rented or enjoyed “As-is” for your personal use; or someone could come in and add additional decking, expand the home, and remodel it to an even higher caliber.

Stunning Hope Ranch Views from this REO's deck

Here are the full listing details of the current listing as well as the old listing (when it sold in 2006) that has a few extra pictures: Hope Ranch Foreclosure Home

Hope Ranch is an exclusive enclave of homes near the beach, that also offers close proximity to downtown and shopping/dining. There are roughly 500 homes, all of which have larger parcel sizes, most of which are over 1 acre. The homes are nestled into the landscaping and miles and miles of horse trails in such a way that you achieve maximum privacy while still having somewhat of a connected feel to the rest of the community. There is also a stunning golf course, club house, and a private beach/park for the neighborhood as well. Properties sell for $1.4m-40 million, and not a single property has sold for less than that in the last handful of years, even the smaller lots/houses on busier parts of the neighborhood. The current list price is lower than the “lot” value alone and the home is in great shape and has a lot of charming features that could be maximized with some additional touches and remodeling.

Hope Ranch Spanish Mountain Retreat

Santa Barbara & Hope Ranch Real Estate Market Update: For the Santa Barbara area as a whole, we have seen a 30% increase in the # of sales this year compared to last year (year over year) at this time and a 47% increase in the volume ($$ sold) during that same period. For Hope Ranch, the numbers are even more staggering as we’ve seen literally DOUBLE the number of sales this year as last year (10 vs 5).  We’ve got a very active market as buyers are taking advantage of the still low interest rates, motivated sellers and these bank-owned property.

If you have any questions, or want to schedule an appointment to view the property, please contact me ASAP (805-637-7148 or Daniel@ZiaGroup.com). The property just came on the market and it already has word of 1-2 offers coming in (per the listing agent), so I would expect by the end of the weekend there will be multiple offers and they’ll “close the door” and deal just with those offers and no others.