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 […]

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 […]

 

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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 […]

Coming to Coast Village Road: A More Welcoming Look and Feel, and FUN!
By Sharon Byrne   |   August 9, 2022

Things are looking up on Coast Village Road. Not that the area was faring poorly, by any means, but merchants will get a new boost with a newly formed and approved Community Business Improvement District (CBID). This has been in the works for a couple of years, the brainchild of former Coast Village Association President […]

Real Estate Gains: Maximize Your Capital Gains Tax Exclusions
By John J. Thyne III   |   August 9, 2022

As a broker and real estate attorney of nearly 30 years, one of the most common questions I face is how clients can best maximize their capital gains tax exclusions. Capital gains taxes are a tax on profits realized from the sale of highly appreciated real estate property, art, businesses, stocks, or other such assets. […]

Home Design Roundup: Making Home Your Own
By Zach Rosen   |   August 9, 2022

Montecito has long had its eye on style and recently Summerland is becoming a hotbed for finding the design, décor, and items that adorn your bed and interior spaces. Here is a roundup of the designers and stores in the area that help make our homes feel like home.  Marc Normand Gelinas Interior Design Marc […]

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  • Key Santa Barbara County Contacts: A One-Stop Shop for Key Contacts within Santa Barbara County
    By Montecito Journal   |   August 9, 2022

    New to the area? Experiencing an ongoing issue at your home or in your neighborhood? There are people for that. The County of Santa Barbara has more than 4,000 employees that can help with everything from behavioral wellness to tax collection to County Fire and Sheriff’s operations. But knowing who to call for what can […]

    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 […]

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    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, […]

    ‘Semele’ Stuns
    By Richard Mineards   |   January 25, 2022

    Opera Santa Barbara was again in fine form when it presented Handel’s Semele at the Lobero, which was first performed in 1744 at London’s Covent Garden. A fusion of elements of opera, drama, and oratorio, the popular work is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses with Semele, the mother of the god Bacchus, superbly played by soprano […]

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