It seems like only yesterday we were kicking off summer with Memorial Day, the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice parade weekend, the Rosewood Miramar re-anchoring its floating offshore platform out for all to enjoy… and then the 4th of July came and went and boom, all of a sudden we are looking at Labor Day. Where […]
Spring arrived a month or so ago, along with a bounty of home sales in the Montecito 93108 area, completely confirming my comment from last month’s article; that our often static and yet ever dynamic market can truly fit both descriptions from one month to the next. If the first quarter of 2026 (Jan 1 […]
Hello, Montecito residents and visitors… I hope you are enjoying springtime in paradise. For our regular MJ readers, you might have noticed this article’s absence from the publication for these past few months after 13 years of regular reporting… my apologies. However, after some time off and letting the market settle into 2026, I’m back […]
Well, if this fall has been a hint of what winter will be like, I’ll take it as often as I will summer. These past weeks (Thanksgiving week to December 21) have been lovely, and with fewer crowds (the town secret), amazing sunsets, warm days and even some warm nights… those few weeks after Thanksgiving, […]
When we say Montecito, people in L.A. and from other areas respond differently than they did five years ago or even one year ago, when I first wrote these same words. The secret is out and the perception of Montecito as a “hot spot” is at an all-time high. If you are new to town, […]
Greetings and Happy June Gloom. Hopefully by the time this is published we will be seeing the sun before the late afternoon, but I suppose any sun in June is cause for celebration. Cheers to it being almost Solstice and time for the busy Montecito Summer. For my stat happy audience, I’m delighted to report […]
Montecito Real Estate Sales Continue to Impress… It’s April and I’m not seeing any showers to bring May flowers. While we did have a nice handful of downpours this winter, my lawn is still hoping for some mid spring sprinkles. As I write, we are experiencing a week of fog with some clearing. June gloom […]
Well, my fellow Montecitans, the Montecito Real Estate market started 2025 off with a bang, as January brought the largest number of sold homes in one month in well over a year. January!!! A month that is normally one of the slower of the year is now the benchmark for months to come. With 25 […]
Without attempting to be a statistical tower of stats and figures, I have attempted here to give an overall look at Montecito’s Real Estate market – and her nuances – through an analysis of homes sales thus far, January 1 to November 30, 2024. To summarize some thoughts about the Montecito and 93108 Real Estate […]
Greetings neighbors and visitors to Montecito. Sending a hearty wish for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and holiday season ahead for us all. The holidays are a busy time in Montecito like anywhere else; shopping, dining, gathering with family and friends… and all the recent work on the freeway and various streets around town is […]
Dear Faithful Reader, I do hope you have enjoyed a joyous summer and are ready for the fall, as we head into this next season in our lovely enclave of Montecito. Although it is still summer on the tail end, the on-again, off-again love affair our area has with coastal low clouds and fog seems […]
When we say “Montecito” nowadays, that word carries a lot more weight to those outside our realm than it did five years ago. Before the Rosewood at Miramar caught the eye of L.A., and before we all knew the term “working remotely.” More than the perception of Montecito as it has long been, a land […]
I often feel as if today’s Montecito real estate market is something of a bubble. Not that it is a bubble about to burst, rather the bubble we live in, where the outside world does not seem to exist. We have everything we need right here it feels. And as for home prices, we have […]
By the time you read this, it might already be spring, (at least by the calendar). The jasmine is in bloom, and if you look up on the hills you can see the ceanothus blooming, creating pockets of bright color amongst the green. Additionally, we are still enjoying the clear skies and the lovely winter […]
In 2024, sales are up in Montecito – in both volume and prices. What a whopping start to 2024 for the high-end real estate market here in Montecito’s 93108. As I type, just 40 days into the new year, we have seen a total of 17 sales in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), with two […]
Cheers to you all and Happy New Year, 2024! Thank you to the Montecito Journal team for providing me this forum, and to the readers who keep me on my toes to bring you the most up-to-date activity and trends month to month in our Montecito, 93108 Real Estate market. Throughout 2023 (much like at […]
Month after month, year after year I keep pinching myself when I realize we live in Montecito. Though we work hard and sometimes struggle to stay here, it is by no means an accident. We thought of all the places in the world (ok the southern West Coast) where we could raise our daughter and […]
Fewer sales, higher prices, steady as she goes… or is there a sales slowdown ahead? From this summer’s highest prices, yet slower than recent year’s summer sales volume, to now fall peaks and valleys and Ellen’s new fantasy listing, our market is one thing one month and another the next. What is consistent though, is […]
It was nice to wake up to sun this morning. We have had our share of ‘Faugust’ mornings and I’m still not sure summer fully happened. The long days of light are dimming yet it’s still lovely and soon will be less crowded on Coast Village Road on the weekends. Locals, get ready for September […]
When you decide to move to Montecito or if you live here already, you are likely aware that there are many smaller neighborhoods within the greater 93108, each offering their own charm, advantages, and distinct personality. From the Hedgerows to Eucalyptus Hill, to Toro Canyon, the beach area, and the Golden Quadrangle, it’s all good […]
Well, it’s just about the start of summer, or almost. Solstice is next week and don’t even get me started about the May gray and the June gloom, oops, too late. But on a sunnier note, let’s start with Montecito Real Estate stats, about as good a place to start as any. As I reported […]
This week it’s all about the Montecito market, and I don’t mean the Upper Village grocery store. I’m talking about the Montecito real estate market. After months of low-housing inventory and lower, post-pandemic sales volume (OK, make that a year or so), we are finally seeing a restocking of the available homes for sale in […]
The rain has stopped and the sun has been shining for several days in a row now – which is a relief. Creeks are relaxing, as are residents. Montecito and her flood and debris flow prevention steps clearly worked during the larger storms that presented themselves this first quarter of 2023. What a wet and […]
If you are looking for a significant estate in Montecito and are willing and comfortable paying over $10,000,000 to get it, I would in normal years have 25 or 30 homes to show you, most of them in the $10 to $20 range… million that is. However, in the aftermath of the estate rush that […]
It’s 2023 and it already feels like a different world. So much steady rain filling reservoirs, cleaning streets (into the ocean sadly), giving us something to really celebrate in the new year. They say that when it is raining is actually a great time to see a home you are considering buying. Watching how the […]
The Montecito real estate market is still defined by high prices and low inventory. By the time this article hits the newsstands or your screen, it may indeed be Winter already, technically by the calendar anyway. However, it’s been cold like winter for a while now. Glad to have rain and weather. Local residents (and […]
We are experiencing a home remodel and new building renaissance in Montecito that I have not seen in my 20 years living here, nor in the 20 years prior when I would visit family in the area. Very few blocks are without construction of some sort. One thousand (give or take) new homeowners have bought […]
The calendar may say that we are heading into fall, but the Montecito Real Estate market is not falling at all, not here in the 93108. It seems like full steam ahead for buyers looking to become part of this community. Taking a quick look back at August, there were only 12 sales reported in […]
Montecito is a small town with a big presence, and it’s not just our famous residents… it’s this place. Just a mile or few from the ocean to the highest home on the hill. Nature all around. Creeks and hiking trails, small chic shops, and amazing restaurants, a reputation warranted and earned over the last […]
While it might be foggy here and there thus far in June, it’s been lovely just the same. The dividing argument of whether the fog line is at Montecito Union School or whether it’s East Valley Road (just a block apart but worth the discussion), is one of the longer running debates you might hear […]
The seasons are changing, and so is the Real Estate market… at least that’s the way the numbers are rolling out here, nearly halfway through 2022, with most months being down in sales volume from the month before. Now I know, many will say it’s because of low inventory, and that’s true, or partly true. […]
The warmer than winter weather and the longer days of sunshine make April an especially lovely time of year in Montecito. Falling after the colder and shorter winter months and coming usually before the May Gray or dreaded June Gloom (fog), April is often a mix of all the seasons in one month. Freezing nights […]
A whopping half of all homes for sale in Montecito’s 93108 zip code are priced over $10,000,000 While I don’t follow March Madness basketball, I do follow the Montecito Real Estate market, house by house, sale by sale, and March was indeed Madness. While an average March might bring 18+/- sales, March 2022 showed strong […]
This spring marks my 10th anniversary writing about Real Estate for the Montecito Journal and I just want to say how appreciative I am, to the publication and to the local Real Estate agents, who have allowed me this forum to share my insights on the market and the Montecito area during this past decade. […]
For one of the longer months of the year, January came and went quickly it seemed. Many lovely days, a bit of good winter surf, and some big estate sales in Montecito as well. So far, this year we are seeing the same low available housing inventory as in months past and at the same […]
If you are moving to Montecito, you are likely doing so for a specific reason or for a few. We arrived 20 years ago to raise our daughter here, among the many generations of family we had in the area at the time, and so we could reset from city life to a more chill, […]
Happy Holidays and all my best to everyone out there in Montecito. Cheers to all of those who make and keep this such a special place and welcome to those who are spending their first holiday season living here in town. We all know the real estate market has been hot and it’s still hot […]
Lovely warm days mixed with overcast mornings and a couple of very chilly nights tells us that we are heading into winter (more rain please). Daylight saving time has kicked in, which is great for the early birds and surfers, bringing light before 6 am. That said, I’m still getting used to darkness in the […]
As the weather teases us between hot and cold, and as the first rain falls and the clocks prepare to turn back time, we start looking ahead to the holidays, a new year, and we say hello to a lot of new neighbors. By my estimate, in the past 18 months we have seen approximately […]
Well, it looks like our Santa Barbara summer is finally here. OK, not the commonly thought of summer – Memorial Day to Labor Day – but the secret summer that we locals know, the October summer that often brings the best weather of the year. The islands are clear, the ocean glistens from a lower […]