Fifteen estates priced at $5,000,000 and above have closed escrow since July 1 in the Hope Ranch, Montecito, Santa Barbara areas. The most expensive one being an incredible oceanfront property in Hope Ranch. It sold at a price of $18,440,000 which was just over 35% off its original asking price and slightly over 21% off the last list price. It had been on the market for 8 months. This Mediterranean estate boasts 8 beautiful acres with its own private paved path down to the beach. There are sprawling lawns, putting greens, a pond, tennis court, pool, cabana, and guest house. View this Hope Ranch Estate. Ten of the 15 luxury home sales were in Montecito with the highest sale being a spectacular 10,000 s.f. home on 2.6 ocean view acres on prestigious East Mountain Drive selling for $13,100,000. This Montecito estate also had a guest house and pool. It had been on the market for 14 months at $15,300,000 and sold for 13% off the asking price. Another high end oceanfront property in Carpinteria just closed escrow this week at $10,700,000. This Hamptons style home was listed at $13,800,000 selling at 22% off its final list price(32% off original list price). It is in the gated Sand Point colony on 1.42 oceanfront acres with 133 feet of beach frontage and a pool. At this point the number of sales in the $5 million plus luxury real estate market in Montecito, Hope Ranch, and Santa Barbara is on pace to surpass last year’s numbers. Buyers may have realized that with so much seller motivation now is a great time to acquire a Santa Barbara estate. You may contact me at patsaraca@gmail.com  or  805-560-9951 for additional real estate information.

Santa Barbara is world renowned for its gorgeous coastline and stunning beaches as well as its luxury real estate. Santa Barbara has an extremely limited number of homes directly on the beach or on the bluff top thus making those lucky enough to own them part of a truly exclusive group. There are just 28 oceanfront properties currently for sale in Santa Barbara. Click here to view them: Santa Barbara Oceanfront. Two oceanfront estates are now in escrow. The first is an 8 acre Mediterranean Estate in Hope Ranch complete with pool, cabana, tennis court, guest house, putting green, and path directly to the beach. Definitely your own private resort! This Hope Ranch Property came on the market in February at $28,500,000 and was reduced to $23,500,000 in June. It went into escrow in September. The other oceanfront estate in escrow is in the gated community of Sand Point. It is a gorgeous Cape Cod style beach home with a pool and guest house on 1.5 oceanfront acres. It had been on the market for over a year when it went into escrow in August. Its original list price was $15,900,000 prior to a price reduction to $13,800,000. If you would like to know the final sales prices of these properties or want further information about Santa Barbara real estate please contact me at patsaraca@gmail.com or 805-560-9951.Oceanfront estates in Santa Barbara have been selling at 50% off original asking prices so now may just be the perfect time for to buy a Santa Barbara home.

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.

This expansive Montecito estate compound is situated on one of the most desirable Montecito estate parcels in the Santa Barbara estates market segment. This magnificent Montecito estate offers spectacular ocean, island, harbor, city and mountain views, a very unique combination, all from a "close in" elevated vista close to the Montecito lower village on Coast Village Road in Montecito as well as the upper village on East Valley Road in Montecito. Perched on the most sought after Montecito estate parcel in the desirable Pepper Hill neighborhood, with its awe inspiring sweeping view vistas from all vantages within the gated compound, this rare Santa Barbara estates offering has not been available for 15 years and has been extensively updated within that time to become one of the premier Montecito estates offerings within the Montecito real estate market place. 

The Santa Barbara real estate market, estates offerings has rarely seen an estate property of this magnitude within the Montecito estates for sale market segment at any price point, much less below the $10 million ceiling within the last 8 years. Montecito estate properties like this are truely rare indeed, particularly in the Montecito Cold Springs Schol District. View details and over 30 photos of this Montcito estate for sale. This Premier Montecito estate is offered at $8.5 million.

This quintessential Montecito view estate includes 5+ bedrooms, 4 full and 3 ½ baths, with full guest suite. Detached opulent office, work shop and fire placed entertainment area. Gated entry. Pillared stone lined motor court. Two 2+ car garages. And gracious, matured landscaped grounds. An extraordinary Montecito estate situated on one of the most desirable Montecito estate parcels, with a prime location close to Upper and Lower Montecito Villages.

The customized Santa Barbara properties search in the left column on this page offer one click searches of virtually all Santa Barbara real estate for sale, pre-sorted by category updated daily. This is the most comprehensive, single source of Santa Barbara properties for sale on the internet, including Montecito properties, Santa Barbara properties, Hope Ranch real estate for sale, Summerland and Carpinteria properties, Goleta real estate, and Santa Ynez properties, all further sorted by property type and features such as Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, Santa Barbara view properties for sale, Montecito estates, and Santa Barbara Mesa properties. Simply click your preferred search and your there. You can then modify your Santa Barbara property search, save favorite Santa Barbara properties, and set up to automatically receive emails of properties that fit your search parameters the moment they come into the system. So you are the first to be alerted when a property of interest is for sale.

Santa Barbara properties, privately offered Santa Barbara estates, Santa Barbara water front for sale, Montecito estates, and the signature property Santa Barbara properties market is one which requires well informed local experticse and knowledge, crucial to successful acquisition and sale of 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.

Below are the 24 properties of Santa Barbara ocean front for sale offering the essence of the Santa Barbara beach front property life style as chosen by www.RareEstates.com

Link to detailed property page and multiple photos.

The Santa Barbara estates and signature property market is one which requires well informed local knowledge that is crucial to successful acquisition and sale of these rare estate properties. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Montecito estates, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates and information, are all available at http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, having specialized local resources and knowledge of unadvertised luxury properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates properties investors searching for property acquisition. For exclusive information about Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, privately offered Montecito estates in the Montecito, Santa Barbara estates or Hope Ranch properties marketplace, direct your inquiries here.

The Santa Barbara estate and signature property market is one which requires well informed local knowledge that is crucial to successful acquisition and sale of these rare estate properties. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Montecito estates, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates and information, are all available at http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, having specialized local resources and knowledge of unadvertised luxury properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates properties investors searching for property acquisition. For exclusive information about privately offered Montecito estates in the Montecito, Santa Barbara estates or Hope Ranch properties marketplace, direct your inquiries here.

The Santa Barbara real estate markets of Santa Barbara proper, Montecito real estate, and Hope Ranch real estate markets show continued strength and marked improvement moving through the first quarter of 2008. Statisctics below from Santa Barbara MLS for Single Family Homes and Condominiums.

 This Year: 1/1/2008 to 3/24/2008
Last Year: 1/1/2007 to 3/24/2007
For: 3/24/2008

Property type Res; TYP of ‘Condo’, ‘Home/Estate’; District of  – MONTECITO’, SANTA BARBARA,- HOPE RANCH’.

	Total Active				New Listings			Number Sold			Sold Volume				Average Sale Price
Area	Last Year		This Year	PCT	Last Year	This Year	PCT	This Year	PCT	Last Year	This Year	PCT	Last Year	This Year		PCT	Last Year	This Year	PCT
MONTECITO		14	23	+64	13	11	-15	3	-70	12	3	-75	20,160,000	5,560,000		-72	1,680,000	1,853,333	+10
EAST Santa Barbara		43	59	+37	40	41	+2	12	-52	23	11	-52	19,004,500	9,029,000		-52	826,283	820,818	-0
WEST Santa Barbara		41	58	+41	35	40	+14	12	-52	13	12	-7	7,845,500	9,493,000		+20	603,500	791,083	+31
HOPE RANCH		0	1	+	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0
TYP Totals: Condo/Co-Op		98	141	+43	88	92	+4	27	-55	48	26	-45	47,010,000	24,082,000		-48	979,375	926,231	-5
MONTECITO		137	162	+18	92	91	-1	36	-30	45	34	-24	160,265,000	166,046,000		+3	3,561,444	4,883,706	+37
EAST Santa Barbara		121	179	+47	117	124	+5	48	-32	50	31	-38	58,346,850	40,410,500		-30	1,166,937	1,303,565	+11
WEST Santa Barbara		76	110	+44	77	82	+6	40	-32	47	24	-48	51,087,500	24,811,500		-51	1,086,968	1,033,812	-4
HOPE RANCH		15	16	+6	12	12	0	4	-63	6	6	0	20,895,000	17,324,080		-17	3,482,500	2,887,347	-17
TYP Totals: Home/Estate		349	467	+33	298	309	+3	128	-33	148	95	-35	290,594,350	248,592,080		-14	1,963,475	2,616,759	+33
SPACER
Grand Totals		447	608	+36	386	401	+4	155	-39	196	121	-38	337,604,350	272,674,080		-19	1,722,471	2,253,505	+31

We see the overall breakdown for sales volume is off from this same time last year due to mortgage market volitility, however average sale prices are up. Condominium average sale price is down 5% but improving measurably and much improved compared to last fall. Single family home average sale prices are up 33% YTD over last year. The Montecito real estate market contiunes to be the core strength of both the single family home and condominium markets here in the Santa Barbara real estate market place. Overall sales numbers are down but should increase moving into summer with reduced interest rates and calming lending market volitility, which has directly effected total number of closed transactions. The new stimulous package is just now kicking into gear with conforming loan limits now at $729,750 from $417,000, for Santa Barbara county real estate and volume in pending sales is increasing as a result. We look forward to these statistics inproving though out the coming months.