The first half of 2010 has shown to be an active one for the Hope Ranch real estate market as the number of sales compared to the same time frame in 2009 increased by an impressive 42%. The price range for home sales in Hope Ranch went from $1,600,000 on the low end to a high of $7,300,000 with 4 being under $2,000,000, 3 over $5,000,000 and the remaining 3 in between. This compares to 2009 when there was just 1 sale above $5,000,000 and also just one below $2,000,000. Hope Ranch is a beautiful area of Santa Barbara (click here for a quick view of Santa Barbara Real Estate for Sale) consisting of approximately 750 properties.  Hope Ranch has a private beach, tennis courts, a country club with golf course, and equestrian trails meandering thru-out the community.  Most lots are in excess of an acre affording lots of privacy. Views are quite varied and can be panoramic taking in the mountains, Laguna Blanca Lake, the golf course, and ocean and islands, too! There are currently 28 properties for sale in Hope Ranch starting with a 4 bdrm ranch on 1.5 woodsy acres priced at $1,895,000 up to one of the most spectacular oceanfront estates in Hope Ranch for sale at $29,000,000.  The incredible 14 acre grounds will take your breath away – like being in your own private park surrounded by towering oaks and redwoods.  The estate is gated of course and includes a 6 bedroom, 10 bath residence, exquisite  pool & pavilion, volley ball court, sprawling lawns and 1000 ft of  bluff top ocean front.  If Oprah is looking to expand her real estate portfolio this would be a wonderful addition!

Santa Barbara

Watched the Fourth of July fireworks from a magnificient bluff top location on the Mesa in Santa Barbara. This oceanfront (click to view Santa Barbara Ocean Front homes for sale) location is a prime spot for a Santa Barbara luxury home. Plans are in place for a gorgeous Tuscan Villa. This remodel opportunity is a rare offering. This locale has a unique orientation facing south and east over the Santa Barbara coastline allowing incredible sunrise views plus ocean, city, harbor, mountain, and island views. Just steps to Shoreline Park, Leadbetter beach – great for surfing and paddle boarding, Santa Barbara Harbor and Santa Barbara Yacht Club plus restaurants and shops. Also close enough for a stroll to State Street and downtown Santa Barbara. Directly in front of you is a favorite local surf spot, for your own live surfing extravaganza. Watch kayakers and paddle boarders from Santa Barbara Harbor, a regular Regatta of international visits from the most spectacular sporting yachts in the world, weekly sail boat races, occasional cruise ship visits and visits from the USS Ronald Reagan, a state of the art U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier. You may also be delighted with the appearance of dolphins and whales! This is what Santa Barbara beach homes are all about! Build your dream home on one of the most spectacular view properties in Santa Barbara! For additional details on this fantastic offering go to www.BeachFrontSantaBarbara.comAct now and you can watch next year’s fireworks from your very own Santa Barbara beach front home!

Santa Barbara Oceanfront Home Site Easterly View

We feel that this is THE premier Santa Barbara Ocean Front Home Site. Why? because it has the very rare and unusual characteristic of actully having an Easterly view. Right. How can a West Coast Santa Barbara CA oceanfront property have an Easterly sunrise view? Well, first of all, the Santa Barbara shoreline actually faces south. That is why Santa Barbara coastal living has one of the most perfect micro climates in the world. (There  are only 4 other micro climates like this on the planet, in the Southern French Riviera, a coastal area in New Zealand, another small coastal area in Australia, and another small coastal area of South Africa). 

This beautiful Santa Barbara beach home is on a unique cut of the Santa Barbara coast line facing South and East before the coast line starts looping back to a Southerly view. This allows you to see the incredible sunrise over the Santa Ynez Mountains (which were recently snow capped which happens once every couple of years at the higher elevations). You can step to Santa Barbara’s beautiful Shoreline Park with acres of bluff top lawn, gardens and playground, steps to the beach, and BBQ areas. But those aren’t even the best parts. Directly in front of this Santa Barbara oceanfront home site is a favorite local surf spot, so you have your own live surfing extravaganza to watch almost daily. Just to the left of that, you can watch kayakers and paddle boarders from Santa Barbara Harbor, which has an on-going flow of boating traffic. Santa Barbara Harbor has its regular Regatta and also hosts many international visits from the most spectacular sporting yachts in the world. There are occasional cruise ship visits and even a nearly annual visit from the USS Ronald Reagan, a state of the art U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier. Althought precious few, there are other Santa Barbara ocean view properties, but not with this proximity to walking to downtown Santa Barbara, State Street and famed Stearns Wharf  a few hundred yards away. With the level of ocean activities right in front of you and with stunning views of Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and Anacapa Islands, and regular visits by dolphins and even Hump Back whales it’s not hard to understand why we feel this is really not just one of the most spectacular and desirable Santa Barbara home sites, but one of the finest home sites in the world. Build your perfect Santa Barbara Luxury Home here. If you are interested in this home site or one similar (difficult to duplicate this one) contact stevedre@cox.net . We have several unique Santa Barbara estate and Santa Barbara waterfront homes available for purchase or lease.

A recent sale of an Oceanfront Home in Hope Ranch reflects what a great time it is to be a buyer of luxury property! This extensively remodeled luxury estate of approximately 13,500 sf with 10 bedrooms & 13 baths on just under 3 acres was originally listed at $39,500,000 in 2007. It just closed escrow for $12,800,000. Oceanfront properties in Hope Ranch are rarely available. This final sales price was beyond a bargain! There are currently 23 active listings in Hope Ranch and an additional 4 in escrow. There have been 12 sales year to date in Hope Ranch – there were a total of 20 sales in Hope Ranch last year so we are running slightly behind this year. With the National Association of Business Economics citing that 80% of economist believe the recession is over now may be the best time to buy real estate in Santa Barbara. There are some fantastic properties currently for sale with perhaps more bargains to be had!  For horse enthusiasts there is an impressive Mediterranean with ocean views from most rooms, charming guest house and first class equestrian facilities in a prime Hope Ranch location now for sale. To view this and other Hope Ranch Properties for sale go to www.RareEstates.com or call 805-560-9951. For information about a privately offered George Washington Smith estate in Hope Ranch please call 805-560-9951.

Had a beautiful sunny day to view Montecito Oceanfront homes!

My first stop was Sea Meadow in Montecito. This is a security guard gated beachfront community near the Biltmore & Coral Casino. The exquisite Montecito oceanfront home that I viewed is in a French Country style and consists of over 7000 s.f.  The craftsmanship and detail are a perfect blend of old world charm with today’s modern amenities. The lush lawn flows to the beautiful sandy beach – a rare, highly desirable location – there are only a few homes in Sea Meadow that are oceanfront. This property is offered at $29,650,000. It was purchased  in 1997 for $1,100,000 -that is not a bad return on investment! Montecito Real Estate continues to perform well!

Two other beach homes present an interesting opportunity at Padaro Lane where one lucky person could purchase both and have a lovely oceanfront family compound! The home that is directly on the oceanfront is a 100 year old classic beach cottage that has been in the same family for many years. There are approved plans by a noted local architect to turn this into a wonderful 2 story beach home. It is offered for sale at $5,900,000. The back home  previously belonged to this family and was sold about 3 years ago for $3,800,000. Since that time it has been very tastefully remodeled and is now for sale for $5,900,000. This home has been a magazine feature property & boasts a celebrity owner. Both properties enjoy a buffer of privacy as they are adjacent to Arroyo Padaro Creek.

 Last of all  I went to an oceanfront Summerland home which I think is a great buy at$6,500,000. It was on the market last year for $10,000,000 and went into escrow right away near that price however the buyer could not perform so it never did close escrow. Someone’s loss is another’s gain. It is a quintessential beach house with soaring wood beam ceilings & huge windows that frame the captivating ocean views.

There may not be a better time to buy oceanfront property in the Montecito/Santa Barbara area than now! Watch for a future blog on major sales that have recently occurred. It seems buyers are ready to spend again!

There are currently 19 oceanfront properties for sale in Santa Barbara in the area from Goleta to Carpinteria. The prices range from $1,399,900 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath second floor condominium in Carpinteria to $29,950,000. There are 2 oceanfront estates for sale at $29,950,000. The first is an estate on Padaro Lane. This estate features 1.7 acres with sprawling lawns extending to the sandy beach, a beautiful 4 bedroom contemporary home with a separate 2 bedroom guest house, and a pool for when one tires of swimming in the ocean. The other is also a beachfront contemporary.           

 It is on Fernald Point in Montecito. It features a stunning 5 bdrm house with an oceanfront pool, decks, and lawn on just over 1/2 acre. There are 7 properties for sale priced above $20,000,000, 1 in Hope Ranch priced at $19,500,000 – this is an incredible 13,500 s.f. Italian Villa set on a bluff top overlooking the ocean & islands with a pool & horse facilities, 1 at $11,900,000 (a fantastic new home reminiscent of old Cape Cod which could be purchased fully furnished), 1 at $8,900,000, 5  oceanfront homes in the $5,000,000 to $8,500,000 price range and 2 exquisite condominiums in a gated Montecito Oceanfront complex. Santa Barbara’s oceanfront real estate market remains extremely limited in its number of available properties for sale and highly sought after. It continues to be a rare and desirable investment.Santa Barbara’s main waterfront is a long stretch of coastline that is mostly commercial including Leadbetter Beach adjacent to the marina,  West Beach to Stearns Wharf with its dolphin fountain sculptured by local artist Bud Bottoms, onto Chase Palm Park with its charming carousel, and to East Beach known for its volley ball courts & tournaments. Extending further into Santa Barbara is Shoreline Park with fantastic views of the city, harbor, ocean, islands & mountains and into Montecito is Butterfly Beach across from the world renown Biltmore Hotel – a perfect place to enjoy the sunset. There are restaurants, shops, a path for biking, rollerblading, jogging, or enjoying a leisurely stroll, a Sunday art show, museums, and of course the ocean with all its fun activities! Santa Barbara’s waterfront is bordered by palm trees with the sparkling blue Pacific in one direction and the glorious mountains in the other. It is one of the most beautiful coastlines to be found! Santa Barbara’s Oceanfront remains a favored destination for people worldwide!

In Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, and Santa Barbara luxury real estate, there are few more desirable locations than the ocean front homes in Hope Ranch along the spectacular ocean front bluff top. A never before offered Hope Ranch ocean front estate, a spanish Colonial masterpiece, is now quietly available for purchase in prestegeous Hope Ranch in one of the most spectacular Hope Ranch ocean front bluff top locations, with breath taking ocean and island views and a rare private Hope Ranch beach access just steps away. Hear the waves crash just below this fabulous Hope Ranch estate, which is being privately offered for $21,000,000. This is certainly one of the best Hope Ranch ocean front property locations in the entire ranch, situated on nearly 2 acres of lushly landscaped serenity, with beautiful swimming pool and over 5000 s.f of living space including a guest suite. Contact us for exclusive details and additional photos of this irreplacable and incredible rare estate property in Hope Ranch. Properties like this are rarely available for sale in Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, and when they do become available on the bluff in Hope Ranch, it is truely a spectacular find.

Santa Barbara properties, privately offered Santa Barbara estates, Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, Montecito estates, and the signature Santa Barbara properties market, is one which requires well informed local expertise and knowledge, crucial to successful acquisition and sale of these rare estates. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates information and anaylsis of Santa Barbara CA homes for sale, is available at this site and http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, with specialized resources and knowledge of unadvertised Santa Barbara properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates property investors. For exclusive comprehensive analysis and information about Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, privately offered Montecito estates, Santa Barbara estates, or the Hope Ranch properties, inquire here.