As Q3 wraps and September’s stats roll in, South Santa Barbara County’s residential market tells a tale of recalibration. After years of pandemic-fueled frenzy, 2025 is shaping up as the year the market caught its breath—albeit with a few raised eyebrows and some price tags still flexing their luxury muscles.
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The southern Santa Barbara’s real estate market offers a fascinating glimpse into the dynamic interplay of zip codes, neighborhoods, and trends that shape this coastal gem. Backed by insightful data from Altos Research, this blog post dives into the nuanced details of housing market performance in the region, exploring patterns that define both its charm and investment potential.
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Home prices in Santa Barbara continue to fluctuate, presenting a mixed picture for buyers and sellers. While the median listing home price currently averages around $2.6 million, data from Zillow indicates that home values have increased overall by 7.2% over the past year. This rise, however, comes with neighborhood variations in values. Prime neighborhoods with homes in excellent condition, priced realistically, are moving. Homebuyers taking part in this market should brace themselves for possible bidding wars, particularly in the better neighborhoods. August sales in 2024 were up from the same time in 2023.
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The Santa Barbara real estate market trends for 2024 have been admirable. In the first half of the year, there were 625 sales, a 12% increase compared to last year. While single-family detached homes accounted for 446 homes sold, reflecting a 15% increase over the same period as last year, condominiums and townhomes accounted for 179 homes sold, a 7% increase.
The average sales price for single-family detached homes rose by 14% to $3,714,928 while the median price rose by 7% to $2,250,000.
The average sales price for condominiums decreased by 3% to $1,135,143 and the median price rose 5% to $975,000.
In the second quarter of this year, all cash sales made up 42% of all sales, a 2% increase from the same period last year.
Inventory supply has picked up. The inventory supply has climbed to its highest level since 2020. Sitting at just over 3 months. Source: Fidelity National Title Company.
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The real estate market in Santa Barbara continues to remain vibrant even with high interest rates and low inventory. As the year progresses our unique coastal community continues to attract interest and investment in Santa Barbara real estate.
Year to date the market is up 14% on the total number of homes sold since this time last year. Property values continue to climb with the average price up 6%. The average time for a home to be on the market is around 30 days.
Nationally internal and external forces are accelerating change in today’s real estate market. The market continues to be strong and is not crashing. Prices are rising as the economy continues to expand.
Real concerns are affordability as homeownership shrinks and rates are expected to remain elevated. Another concern is the real estate industry is changing since the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors prevailed and realtors are trying to navigate the new landscape for real estate sales. Consumers need real estate agents but it may be a little early to see how this will play out.
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The southern Santa Barbara real estate market remains vibrant with increased sales activity even as mortgage rates rise. Despite the increase of inventory compared to last year it still doesn’t meet the current demand. The market may be in transition if the inventory continues to increase and the supply is gradually aligning with the demand.
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Recently I spoke with the manager of one of the larger Real Estate Companies here in southern Santa Barbara and we both agreed that the market has changed. It appears that the seller’s market may have peaked six to nine months ago, and many sellers aren’t too happy.
At the beginning of the year, this market was still hot, and a lot of homes that had been priced properly initially were selling over their asking price. But things changed, and some sellers may have missed the market. Right now we’re seeing lots of “price reductions” or what many listing agents rephrase as a “price improvement.”
Interest rates are through the roof. On Saturday, October 14, 2023, the current average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate was 7.89%, increasing 3 basis points compared to this time last week!
Buyers who are able to find the home that they’ve always dreamed of might consider an Adjustable Rate Mortgage set not to adjust for 3 or 5 years at a considerably lower interest rate than the current fixed rates being offered. If you’re not an “All Cash” buyer you should thoroughly investigate the various financing offerings that are currently available. There are more than a few. Also, there are some sellers who have assumable loans at a very low interest rate that they acquired during the Pandemic real estate market, and listing agents should definitely include that information at the front end of their marketing. It can be a game-changer.
Sorry to rain on anyone’s parade but the following data tells the story. Whatever side of the coin you are on, buyer or seller, good luck out there. If you’re thinking of buying or selling we can help.
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The Santa Barbara housing market is very competitive. Homes in Santa Barbara receive 4 offers on average and sell in around 31 days. The median sale price of a home in Santa Barbara was $1.5M last month, down 17.0% since last year. The median sale price per square foot in Santa Barbara is $1.24K, up 5.3% since last year.
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It’s important to keep up with real estate trends if you’re looking to buy or sell. January’s housing market is likely to mimic December’s, which is good for sellers but not great for buyers. This post features Santa Barbara’s real estate market trends for December 2022, year-to-date statistics for the year, plus market trends for the last decade.
RATES HAVE FALLEN ABOUT 1.5% SINCE MID-OCTOBER. That translates to about $100 a month in savings per $100,000 borrowed.
The Housing Market is most definitely Not Frozen source: JVM Blog/ JVM Lending
INVESTORS ARE STILL BUYING: Investors seem to see something much of the homebuying world does not. Agents report that they’re dealing with investors of every type. The low inventory for Investment properties is fairly limited in Santa Barbara right now making good investment properties very desirable especially if they’re priced right.
RATES WILL CONTINUE TO FALL: Rates are expected to fall in the first half of 2023. If that happens we may also see more homes for sale. CoreLogic is predicting appreciation next year.
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