A big thanks to Fidelity National Title for putting together these reports!  I like using these because Fidelity tracks all sales, not just sales in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Last month, April 2018, we had approximately 20 Non-MLS sales out of a total of 153 sales.

So what's the latest in the Santa Barbara Area Real Estate Market?  Cash is still King.  Out of the 153 sales in April, 42 were all cash - that's almost 28%!  And in a market with a year-to-date median sales price of just over $1MM (homes including condos), that is considerable!

Our year-to-date median sales price (January - April) is the highest on record, coming in at $1,000,050 (homes including condos).  Helping fuel our high prices is inventory - the lowest it has been, with year-to-date number of sales and pending sales the lowest since 2014.  Interestingly, if we look only at April 2018 compared to April 2017, we saw an increase in the number of sales in every area of Santa Barbara, except Montecito which saw only 6 sales last month compared to 17 a year ago.

What does the rest of the year hold for the Santa Barbara housing market?  Strong sales in April may set the tone for a busy summer season - with more sellers wanting to realize gains in our surging market.  Rates increases will most likely flatten our median sales prices by year end, as rates are now at the highest level since 2011.  On the national level, rate increases can be attributed to 6 straight weeks of declining mortgage applications, with purchases down about 2%.  

As always, please Contact Me with any questions or feedback!

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