Tag archives: real estate market

A Scarcity of Abundance
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   February 7, 2023

If you are looking for a significant estate in Montecito and are willing and comfortable paying over $10,000,000 to get it, I would in normal years have 25 or 30 homes to show you, most of them in the $10 to $20 range… million that is. However, in the aftermath of the estate rush that […]

New Year’s Rains and Last Year’s Market
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   January 17, 2023

It’s 2023 and it already feels like a different world. So much steady rain filling reservoirs, cleaning streets (into the ocean sadly), giving us something to really celebrate in the new year. They say that when it is raining is actually a great time to see a home you are considering buying. Watching how the […]

Falling Into 2023
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   December 27, 2022

The Montecito real estate market is still defined by high prices and low inventory. By the time this article hits the newsstands or your screen, it may indeed be Winter already, technically by the calendar anyway. However, it’s been cold like winter for a while now. Glad to have rain and weather. Local residents (and […]

Montecito’s Home Building Renaissance
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   October 25, 2022

We are experiencing a home remodel and new building renaissance in Montecito that I have not seen in my 20 years living here, nor in the 20 years prior when I would visit family in the area. Very few blocks are without construction of some sort. One thousand (give or take) new homeowners have bought […]

Summer Home Buying Spree Continues… With no fall in sight (other than the weather and earlier sunsets)
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   September 27, 2022

The calendar may say that we are heading into fall, but the Montecito Real Estate market is not falling at all, not here in the 93108. It seems like full steam ahead for buyers looking to become part of this community. Taking a quick look back at August, there were only 12 sales reported in […]

Mid-Year Market Update
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   August 9, 2022

January through June statistics are in, and the Santa Barbara South Coast real estate market is showing a stabilization, marked by increased inventory, fewer sales, a higher number of days on market, and fewer multiple offer situations. Median sales price remains high: $2.2M for the month of June, which is a slight bump from May’s […]

Ins and Outs: Montecito and Her Many Special Neighborhoods
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   August 9, 2022

Montecito is a small town with a big presence, and it’s not just our famous residents… it’s this place. Just a mile or few from the ocean to the highest home on the hill. Nature all around. Creeks and hiking trails, small chic shops, and amazing restaurants, a reputation warranted and earned over the last […]

Mortgage Minute: Getting Creative in a Shifting Market
By Matt Genovese   |   August 9, 2022

In response to this constantly swift-moving and uncertain real estate market – a statement that for most buyers and sellers sounds dramatic but is rather consistent for those of us who in work in the real estate industry – more and more we are seeing buyers get creative with the type of loans they use […]

No June Gloom… At Least Not in the Real Estate Market
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   June 28, 2022

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 […]

A Season of Change
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   June 14, 2022

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. […]

April Showers… A Few at Least
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   May 10, 2022

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 […]

March Was Madness
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   April 12, 2022

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 […]

February Stats and My 10th Anniversary with the Montecito Journal
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   March 15, 2022

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. […]

The High End Keeps Going Higher
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   February 15, 2022

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 […]

Montecito’s Market
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   January 25, 2022

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, […]

Ten Notable Sales in 2021
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   January 4, 2022

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 […]

2021 Near Year-End Real Estate Update for Montecito
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   December 28, 2021

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 […]

Montecito Market Update
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 14, 2021

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 […]

Slower Market? Sure. But the Prices That are Being Fetched…
By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   November 30, 2021

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 […]

There’s a Bit of Hope in the Real Estate Market
By Michael Phillips   |   November 22, 2021

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 […]