- Real Estate Market Archives

- Informative Articles

- In the Spotlight

ARCHIVES:
Dan is consistently hailed as one of the foremost authorities on Santa Barbara Real Estate, and he lends this knowledge to both his clients and existing and potential residents of the area. Each year Dan tracks the housing markets of Santa Barbara (including activity in Montecito, Hope Ranch, and Goleta), and compares the data on a month-to-month, seasonal, and yearly basis. The result is sound pattern recognition of the area's housing trends, which Buyers and Sellers alike find invaluable when considering their real estate options. Look to Dan's Quarterly Real Estate Updates to better understand the dynamic Santa Barbara housing market by visiting our our "Archives" where we have catalogued his Updates since 1995.

ARTICLES:
To maintain his expertise on the current Real Estate market as a whole, Dan understands the need to pay close attention to both local and national press on the subject. Given the importance the housing market has in the overall economy there has been a lot of press coverage as of late. To view a selection of articles regarding the health of Real Estate in Santa Barbara and our nation, view our "Articles" page.

SPOTLIGHT:
For years Dan has been selected to write for the California Economic Project, and lends his expertise of Santa Barbara Real Estate to their "Economic Forecast" which summarizes the previous year and offers predictions for the flow of the market throughout the upcoming year. He is also commonly requested to provide comments and insight into our local market by the press. Please visit our "In The Spotlight" page to view articles and newscasts that feature Dan's recommendations for Buyers and Sellers in the Santa Barbara area.

Daniel Encell's
Quarterly Real Estate Update
2nd Quarter 2008

The purpose of this newsletter is never to be overly optimistic, or pessimistic, about the local real estate market. Instead, the purpose is to provide property owners with an accurate assessment of current market conditions and trends. Having stated that, 2008 is off to a difficult start for real estate along the South Coast of Santa Barbara County. Overall, the number of sales is down 28% compared to the same period in 2007 (300 versus 418). For the second straight quarter, the median price declined, dropping 4% to $962,500, a level last seen in late 2004. And, for the first time in over a decade, average prices declined, falling 12% to $1,788,370. This is due in large part to a significant decline in sales of high priced beach properties.

On a national level, foreclosure rates continue to climb to record levels, prompting the government to put a tremendous amount of effort into stabilizing real estate values. The Federal Reserve has dropped its discount rate dramatically (although this has not translated into significantly lower mortgage rates). Various forms of legislation are being proposed to offer relief to distressed homeowners. And, in an effort to increase Buyer demand, the limit for conforming loans has been increased in many areas, climbing from $417,000 to $729,000 in our area. Hopefully these efforts will bring desired relief soon to distressed real estate markets.

Montecito
In Montecito, statistics for the number of sales mirror what is happening in the rest of South Santa Barbara County, dropping 30% to 49 closed transactions. Average prices declined 18% to $3,753,449. Despite these discouraging figures, median prices posted a solid gain of 19%, to a record $3,100,000. In fact, Montecito was the only market along the South Coast that enjoyed an increase in median price during the first quarter of 2008. Activity has been particularly robust in the $4-10 million range.

If you are interested in finding out what has sold in the past year and for how much, we now have the following sales lists available to view: Montecito, Beachfront and Hope Ranch sales. Please click here to request these lists.