No matter how some journalists might spin it, it’s not uncommon for swings of a few percentage points from month to month in housing statistics.
June’s statistics showed pending and sold properties, along with their median prices, in a relatively normal range. While closed sales of single-family homes in the Santa Barbara metro area and their median price ticked down in June, pending sales and their median price ticked up.
Completed single-family home sales dropped to 101 in June from 105 in May, or a negligible decrease of 4 percent.
As home sales decreased, so did the median sold price, trending down to $1,186,500 in June from $1,220,000 in May, or a decrease of about 3 percent.
Single-family homes under contract (pending) were 105 in June, up from May’s 103. The median list price of pending homes moved from $1,225,000 to $1,295,000, portending a higher median closed price in the near future.
Inventory is getting lower, going from 321 single-family homes actively listed for sale at the end of May to 314 at the end of June. We are continuing with just a three-month inventory of homes available at our current sales rate.
Year over year prices appear to be slowing, with this June’s median sold price 12 percent higher than the June 2013 median price of $1,063,000.
Given the leveling of our statistics, it seems the market is finding its equilibrium, balancing the minimal inventory and higher prices with buyers’ desires to purchase.
— Ed Fuller is a real estate broker with San Roque Realty Inc. and president of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors. Contact him at ed@sanroquerealty.com or 805.687.1551. The opinions expressed are his own.