Real Estate Market Trends September 2018

Hey friends, Joe Parker with the Santa Barbara Group at Berkshire Hathaway real estate. Thanks for taking a moment to check out this video. I want to bring you up to speed with the Santa Barbara real estate market trends we are seeing in September 2018.

I was just going over some stats for the year and thought I would share some numbers I found pretty interesting. Watch the video and/or read more below.

Real Estate Market Trends September 2018 – The Video

Real Estate Market Trends September 2018 – Text Version

One thousand two hundred and nineteen single-family homes and condos have been sold thus far this year. That’s just about the same as this time last year. In other words, home and condo sales have about the same for the past couple of years.

The makeup of the sales is what has changed. Of the 1219 sales in 2018, 827 were single family places and 392 were condos. So what’s the difference?

Condo sales are up 14% compared to last year and condo prices, both average and median, are up a whopping 11%.

What’s Causing the Change in Condo Sales?

There are usually a number of factors that cause real estate market trends to change. Let’s look at a few.

• Of late, we’ve seen an uptick in multifamily construction in greater Santa Barbara market. The additional new inventory most has, most likely, helped swell condo sales.
• The new units are selling in the $700,000 to $900,000 range. This price range is higher than normal and probably adding to the overall rise in condo sale prices.
• As single-family home prices rise, it put a demand on lower priced options. Condos or rentals are the predominant choices.

What’s Happening with Single Family Home Sales?

Traditional homes sales have dipped in 2018 compared to 2017. The decrease, YTD, is about 6%. Home prices are up a bit at an average of 4%. However, the median sales price is down 2%. The 2% dip in median sale price tells us that more people are buying lower-priced homes than a year ago.

What is the difference between median and average (mean) sale price?

The median house price is the midway point of all the houses/units sold at market price over a set period (monthly, yearly, quarterly.) Average or mean sale price is arrived at by adding the sold price of each home together and then dividing this by the number of sales.

Where is the Santa Barbara real estate market heading?

The real estate market trend I am seeing today is a marked flattening after years big shifts. In 2012, we saw a significant rise in both sale and prices. The big rise settled down in 2017 and continues to be flat in 2018. This could mark a trend we saw several years ago when home prices remained flat and were less volatile.

I believe this is simply a natural market occurrence that is being aided by an increase in mortgage rates and the change in write-offs under the new tax laws.

From the home sellers side, be prepared for softer sales prices. Since median sales prices are down, it suggests the buying public is generally looking for lower priced properties. This is backed up by the number of price reductions we continue to see, especially in the under 1.8 million dollar price range.

If you are selling a condo, you may be able to get a bit more than anticipated, yet be mindful of appraised value if the buyer is getting a mortgage.

Thanks for taking time with us today. Always appreciated. If you have questions or need help finding the right place or selling the one you have, know Garrett and I will do our best for you.

Joe Parker, Garrett McCaw, Avi Becker
The Santa Barbara Group
Berkshire Hathaway HSCP
3868 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93105
info@thesantabarbaragroup.com