Chicago Title Company has been tracking the Bank/Mortgagee Real Estate Owned properties (properties taken back in foreclosure) in the three marketing areas of north Santa Barbara County. The results quantify that real estate markets are localized. What is happening in the Lompoc Valley and Santa Maria Valley troubled real estate markets is not happening in the Santa Ynez Valley market.

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The last time I ran the market data regarding the number of months of inventory available, (approx. September, 2007), the $0-1 million price range had 10.9 months of inventory.

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As a person that bought a new home in 2007, I lied awake last night wondering if I made a mistake.  It’s not hard to second-guess oneself in the wake of all the negative national news, even when real estate is your business.  So this morning I went to my computer to check on the strength and velocity of our local market.  Looking at the key indicators, this is what I found:

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While meeting with first time home buyers this past week, I was reminded of how fortunate I am to have been able to work with this very extraordinary group of buyers. Beside the fact that I learn so much from this group, there is just something about a first time home buyer, maybe it is an aura they possess, I am not sure, however, helping them into home ownership gives me the most gratifying feeling and makes my job as a realtor the very best!

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I bought my house in 1995 for a little over $350,000. Being in the business, I thought that I had made a good deal, but within 6 months, I think my house was worth around $25,000 less and I felt pretty sick. Today, 13 years later, my home is worth over $1,100,000, three times what I paid for it and I now I know that I made the right decision. In fact, when looking back, even if I would have paid $400,000 ($50,000 more than what it was worth), it would have been a smart purchase. You see, many of my clients ask me, when is the best time to buy a home considering what the market is like right now.

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All real estate is local! “South County” real estate is doing very nicely thank you! With only 40 foreclosures total on the South Coast in the whole of 2007, there is no tipping point here to bring values down any further. (Those foreclosures have, for the most part, been purchased, not sitting unsold as is happening in other locales.) Indeed, only 2 local areas have had downturns in their median prices over the past 3-4 years: Carpinteria and Goleta, both down around 15%. Santa Barbara’s median price has remained steady for 3 years at $1,015,000-$1,050,000 and Montecito has enjoyed a “non-downturn” adding around10% to its median price each year for the past 4 years.
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In the past 30 days we have seen more activity in the market than in the past few months.  116 residential properties have gone into escrow leaving about a 6 month supply of homes for other buyers.  This is a significant reduction in inventory over the last few months.  What does this mean to buyers?  It means the time to act is now if you want to have negotiating power on your side.

Pertinent information from Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, delivered by our Santa Barbara Multiple Listing Service: A bill likely to raise the conforming loan amount from $417,000 to $729,000 is due to be signed into law today!!!

This is even more good financial news for folks looking for an opportunity to buy a home in today’s market!!
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Think you can’t live in Santa Barbara for under under $650,000?  … Think again.

Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to live or retire in Santa Barbara?  For many people, Real Estate prices in Santa Barbara seem so prohibitive, they are content to rent just to be here. Some are spending thousands of dollars on rent and receiving no equity in a property. There IS another way to have it all!!
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AARP defines a senior as a person age 50 or older and states, every 7 seconds an American turns 50!

The Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation was developed to focus on the needs of home buyers and sellers age 50 and older. It is awarded only to Realtors who have successfully completed the SRES education program.

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