Tag archives: housing market

We live on Channel Drive in Montecito and along with the neighbors we have sent several emails regarding the lack of Sheriff’s presence since COVID and the increase of illegal activities. Last night was 4th of July and sadly Channel Drive had far fewer families enjoying the fireworks and many more people drinking, flying drones […]

While it might be foggy here and there thus far in June, it’s been lovely just the same. The dividing argument of whether the fog line is at Montecito Union School or whether it’s East Valley Road (just a block apart but worth the discussion), is one of the longer running debates you might hear […]

The seasons are changing, and so is the Real Estate market… at least that’s the way the numbers are rolling out here, nearly halfway through 2022, with most months being down in sales volume from the month before. Now I know, many will say it’s because of low inventory, and that’s true, or partly true. […]

The warmer than winter weather and the longer days of sunshine make April an especially lovely time of year in Montecito. Falling after the colder and shorter winter months and coming usually before the May Gray or dreaded June Gloom (fog), April is often a mix of all the seasons in one month. Freezing nights […]

A whopping half of all homes for sale in Montecito’s 93108 zip code are priced over $10,000,000 While I don’t follow March Madness basketball, I do follow the Montecito Real Estate market, house by house, sale by sale, and March was indeed Madness. While an average March might bring 18+/- sales, March 2022 showed strong […]

This spring marks my 10th anniversary writing about Real Estate for the Montecito Journal and I just want to say how appreciative I am, to the publication and to the local Real Estate agents, who have allowed me this forum to share my insights on the market and the Montecito area during this past decade. […]

For one of the longer months of the year, January came and went quickly it seemed. Many lovely days, a bit of good winter surf, and some big estate sales in Montecito as well. So far, this year we are seeing the same low available housing inventory as in months past and at the same […]

If  you are moving to Montecito, you are likely doing so for a specific reason or for a few. We arrived 20 years ago to raise our daughter here, among the many generations of family we had in the area at the time, and so we could reset from city life to a more chill, […]

With nearly 350 sales of homes, estates, and condos in the “93108” this year, we saw many record-breaking transactions in all price points. Here is a short list of remarkable sales from 2021:  10. Monarch Lane: $3,895,000 The sale of this three-bedroom, four-bath home in April broke the record for highest-priced sale of an Ennisbrook […]

Happy Holidays and all my best to everyone out there in Montecito. Cheers to all of those who make and keep this such a special place and welcome to those who are spending their first holiday season living here in town.  We all know the real estate market has been hot and it’s still hot […]

As we head into the holiday season, the Montecito real estate market has slowed considerably; as of press time there have been just 39 sales so far in Q4, compared to 99 sales in the same time period last year. Q3 saw a slowdown as well, with 82 sales from July through September, compared to […]

Lovely warm days mixed with overcast mornings and a couple of very chilly nights tells us that we are heading into winter (more rain please). Daylight saving time has kicked in, which is great for the early birds and surfers, bringing light before 6 am. That said, I’m still getting used to darkness in the […]

Buyers today are facing enormous competition for the best properties all over the country, and few places more so than Santa Barbara.  To win the best properties today, buyers must be prepared to move quickly and confidently. As Exclusive Buyers’ Agents (EBA), we are advisors and advocates for our clients from contract to closing. But […]

As the weather teases us between hot and cold, and as the first rain falls and the clocks prepare to turn back time, we start looking ahead to the holidays, a new year, and we say hello to a lot of new neighbors. By my estimate, in the past 18 months we have seen approximately […]

Well, it looks like our Santa Barbara summer is finally here. OK, not the commonly thought of summer – Memorial Day to Labor Day – but the secret summer that we locals know, the October summer that often brings the best weather of the year. The islands are clear, the ocean glistens from a lower […]

It seems as if fall has arrived a tad unannounced, at least for me. I had been waiting for those definite signs of summer: feeling unbearably hot, the ocean warming up considerably for at least a few weeks, and that moment when one starts looking forward to cooler weather. The May Gray/June Gloom hung in […]

What a difference a month (of big sales) can make. In my last article reviewing Montecito’s Real Estate activity for June and most of July, I focused on the lack of sales of more than $10 million. In that writing, I also noted an overall sales volume decline that put sales numbers closer to normal […]

Juan Cabrillo, exploring the new world for Spain, sailed into the Santa Barbara Harbor in 1542. For the next 350 years, there was not much European contact. This changed in 1784 when the Spanish constructed the first adobe housing in Santa Barbara as barracks for soldiers. The Presidio, located between Anacapa and Garden streets on […]

The lodgings pictured on the Aug.5-12 Montecito Journal cover convey the “Dream Market” with gigantic accuracy. It was a good issue — the pieces on “pigmobiles” and failing wells helping to sober the frothing real estate euphoria. Having come to Montecito in 1952, I was moved by nostalgia, vexation, and a healthy sense of embarrassment. […]