2022 End-of-Year Market Update
South Santa Barbara County
As We Look Back on 2022:
- The median sales price for homes or PUDs increased by 15%
- The number of sales for homes or PUDs decreased by 35%
- December was the lowest month of sales in over 10+ years (low inventory!)
- All Cash sales accounted for 34% of transactions
As We Look Forward to 2023, What Can We Expect?
- South Santa Barbara County is an anomaly from the rest of California and even the Central Coast in terms of Real Estate!
- The California Association of REALTORS® predicts (for California as a whole) the median sales price will decrease by 8.8% and the number of sales will decrease by 7.2%.
- “It seems we have already reached the bottom of the low home sales activity,” says Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting for the NAR. “With mortgage rates stabilizing near 6%, we expect the housing market to turn around in 2023 and rebound in 2024.”
We’re starting the year off with less than one month of inventory! Demand remains strong for properties under $2M. We are seeing well-priced properties receive multiple offers slightly over the list price. The $2M-4M price point has softened a bit and properties are on the market longer. The $4M-8M luxury market is softening as well, with longer days on the market.
Pricing will be as important as ever this year. Once interest rates level out, expect more buyers to jump back into the market. Low inventory levels will continue to strengthen prices, so don’t expect to see local prices drop significantly.
