Santa Barbara real estate has proven to be surprisingly resilient when compared to the rest of the Golden State. While a number of cities have nearly collapsed economically in the face of the impending economic crisis, especially the bursting of the real estate bubble, Santa Barbara was never devastated by the recession, and has begun a slow recovery, at least according to the best measures and estimates available. The Santa Barbara real estate market is posting modest gains in some sectors, such as home sales and rate of foreclosure, although it is still rather depressed when compared to year-ago levels. Realtor Carla B. Reeves had the following to say: “The stats for the first six months of 2009 are in and are surprising! Following statistics are for Single Family Homes and Homes in Planned Unit Developments from Carpinteria to Goleta through the Santa Barbara Multiple Listing Association: 2009 Sales - 350; 2008 Sales 388. That's almost 2 sales a day, however down 10% over 2008. Average days on the market 75.”
Angela B. Mooney wrote in the Realty Times regarding Santa Barbara that “We are experiencing a buyers market with prices stabilizing especially in the entry level and first time buyer market. The median sold price for May 2009 was $875,000”. An article in the Santa Barbara News Press noted that home prices on the South Coast, which includes the Santa Barbara real estate market, rose slightly, although they are still substantially below the levels held last year. Figures compiled by Trulia confirmed these trends, although there are still a number of trouble spots in the Santa Barbara real estate market.
Back in late May of 2009, Allan La Fleur wrote in the Santa Barbara News-Press that “Commercial real estate is the next bubble.” Fast-forwarding a few months, it seems that his predictions were quite accurate. Although Santa Barbara does not have as much commercial or industrial property as larger cities such as Los Angeles or San Francisco, the Santa Barbara real estate market has been suffering in these sectors as of late.