The real estate market in the Santa Barbara area has been running 64 to 107 sales a month so far this year, and July came in at 99 sales. The market is a little slower than last year in July, with 132 sales.
Although sales are a bit slower, the market is still very healthy.
Overall, there is a nine-month supply of homes on the market with some areas as low as a two-month supply and others with a 16-month supply of available homes. The homes that are selling are selling in the 90-plus percent range.
The area has held its value much better than our neighbors to the north or south, making Santa Barbara not only a wonderful place to live and own property but a wonderful place to invest in real estate.
Where will you be living for the next five-plus years? If it is this area, today presents a fantastic opportunity to buy at great rates for the long term.
Elaine Abercrombie, a broker with Village Properties Realtors, is vice president of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors She can be contacted at elaine@villagesite.com.