12th
Jul
Hi,
I sincerely hope that this letter finds you all in good spirits and good health as we start the 2nd half of 2010. I don’t know what the age is that you reach when time starts flying by like a whirlwind, but I’m definitely there.
Last Thursday, local economist Mark Schneipp held a mid-year economic review giving his insight on both our local economy here on the South Coast and on our nation’s economy.
In a nutshell, he says that the economic recession is over and has been over since last year. As an economist he bases his facts on things like corporate profits. He says that corporate profits are at an all time high and equal to 2007. Of course, they’re doing great because of all of the lay-offs and cut-backs.
We, as individuals, do not feel the relief because our Ca jobless rate is 12.5%, very few people can qualify for loans and the housing market is not contributing to the recovery. Many people are behind in their mortgages or just plain upside down, owing more than the house is worth. Schneipp did say that as soon as the housing market kicks in, we will see a much stronger recovery, but that may not be until 2011.
Now, here are the final figures for the 1st 6 months of 2010 vs. the 1st 6 months of 2009 for our local South County according to Gary Woods who calculates monthly statistics from our local SB MLS.
Santa Barbara South Coast County including Montecito, Hope Ranch, SB, Goleta, Carpinteria, & Summerland.
Multiple Listing Service Sales of Homes & Planned Unit Development Summary
There are more sales of homes under $1mil than over $1mil.
The number of SOLD properties is up +22.3% from last year with 434 sold so far in 2010 vs. 355 sold in the 1st 6 months of 2009.
Our current median sales price is up +3.3% to $857,500 from $830,100 in 2009.
The average sold price is also up +11.6% to $1,464,177 from $1,311,649 in 2009.
The median list price is down -12%. It’s $1,095,000 for this year vs. $1,245,000 for last year.
Montecito has seen 57 sales this year compared to 52 last year with the median sales price up slightly from $2.33mil in 2009 to $2.48mil in 2010.
We all know that interest rates are a big factor in projecting what will happen for the remainder of the year. According to all indicators, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke isn’t going to raise rates any time soon. In fact, interest rates are right now at an all time low for as far back as they can track interest rates, lower than before World War 2.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.
As always, I thank each of you for continually referring me to your friends and family. I sincerely appreciate it and have met a lot of great people.
Best regards,
Sandy
Cellular (805) 403-3844





