How's the Market?
It’s mid-June and looking at the state of our market, it feels like we are back to a more typical pace with good, well priced properties selling within weeks. The memory of extremely low interest rates is still constraining some buyers and sellers, but life marches on so here are some facts to get you thinking:
HOME BUYING FACTS:
Core Logic reported that nationwide, single-family home price growth rose by 2% year over year in April. This marked the 135th consecutive month of annual growth but the sixth straight month of single-digit gains, which have slowed from an all-time high of nearly 20% annual appreciation in the spring of 2022. WHAT IT MEANS: Slim inventory continues to push prices up although not at the breakneck pace of the previous 2-3 years and recent trends suggest that home price growth in 2023 will fall in line with the historical 4% annual average. This correlates overall to what we are seeing in Santa Barbara. HOME SELLING FACTS: The typical home seller in 2022 has owned their home for 10 years, was moving to be closer to friends and family and was 60 years old, up from 56 years in 2021. WHAT IT MEANS: Baby boomers are going to dominate the selling environment with millennials moving in to take their place. Although mortgage rates and affordability will constrain the market, we will continue to see large transfers of wealth from the baby boom generation into homes for their children in affluent communities like Montecito.
What Happened in Montecito Last Week?
June 4th - June 10th
Under Construction 🚧
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) held a community meeting Thursday, June 1st to update Montecito residents on the Carpinteria to Santa Barbara 101 Project. The highlights of the Highway 101: Montecito project are below:
• During this summer, from June 12 until school starts (August 24), the focus of construction will be on the San Ysidro Overcrossing for the Highway 101: Montecito project.
• Crews will also build the main portion of the roundabout as part of the San Ysidro Roundabout project. This will result in the closure of the overcrossing to vehicles - pedestrians will still have access. The project schedules are coordinated to enable efficient construction and reduce closure impacts to neighbors and residents.
• The key detours during this year’s on- and off-ramp closures in Montecito will be to use the updated intersection at Sheffield Drive that includes new on- and off-ramps. • After the San Ysidro Overcrossing reopens in late August, the San Ysidro Roundabout will be mostly functional with the center circle in place and a right-turn traffic pattern (similar to how the Olive Mill Roundabout is functioning currently). Crews will continue to build the San Ysidro roundabout through the remainder of this year.
• Late this summer/fall, construction will begin on Highway 101 in Montecito with vegetation clearing, work in the median in the Advanced Work area (roughly between San Ysidro and Olive Mill Roads), and on the southbound shoulder. Crews will strengthen the pavement in the median and shoulder to enable the shifting of traffic lanes to create construction areas.
• After that is ready, lanes will be shifted in the spring of 2024 so that work on the northbound side can occur. The southbound side will be constructed in 2025.
For more information and road construction updates visit www.SBROADS.com
