I look at the residential real estate market for the Santa Barbara area each month to see the trends that develop. For July of this year, the average sold price was $1,252,120; last year, it was $972,048.
In five of the past six months, the local average sale price has been more than $1 million.
From Carpinteria to Goleta, the local market averages three to five sales a day of homes and condos. Considering that at the top of the last cycle we were selling three homes a day, selling five in a day seems like a whirlwind market, with homes flying off the shelves to be owned by eager buyers and their families.
Do you think historic low interest rates have anything to do with it? I believe so, too. Since people always need a place to live, it just makes sense to buy now rather than wait for prices to rise even more. You’re also gambling that the interest rates will stay low.
The market velocity is pointing toward a balanced market, and low rates are in everyone’s favor — whether buying for the first time or buying another.
— Elaine Abercrombie, a broker with Abercrombie Fine Homes, is president of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors. She can be contacted at elaine@AFHomes.net.