Tag archives: real estate
A warm Summerland welcome to sports legend Maria Sharapova, who has purchased one of my favorite properties. The retired (in February of this year) tennis player has purchased a five-acre ocean view compound in the hills for $8.6 million. The 33-year-old Russian has won more than $38 million in prize money – that’s not counting […]
For anyone wanting to live the Summerland version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” two of the town’s grandest estates are on the market. Both are owned by polo patrons: there are digs and playing fields for the horses that far outshine many Summerland beach shacks. Tuscany Oaks Farm, a seven-bedroom, 10-bath polo estate […]
TV talk show host and serial real estate flipper Ellen DeGeneres and her longtime wife-actress Portia de Rossi have put on the market their latest acquisition in our rarefied enclave for $39.9 million. They purchased the bulk of the Bali-esque Montecito spread last year for $27 million, but since then have expanded the complex, which […]
The Riven Rock estate Prince Harry and Meghan Markle bought for $14.5 million had been listed for rent on the website Giggster. The listing, which was taken down on Sunday after media reports, advertised the nine-bedroom, 16-bath property on 5.4 acres for $700 an hour. The listing said the lush estate could be used as […]
Judging by the home buying activity in the last few months, we can easily conclude that Montecito is “The place to be.” Since the terrible home sales in April and May brought on by strict lockdown measures, Montecito has experienced the highest number of sales per month that most real estate agents can ever remember. […]
Hello and welcome to a busy Montecito summer season. In the past four months, the number of closed escrows is more than double what we would typically see. Between July 19 and August 29, for example, whereas 16 homes traded hands last year during the same timeframe, this year we saw 39 completed home sales. […]
It has been an incredible past two-plus months in the Montecito real estate market, to say the least. Sales are up and still climbing. Not since perhaps 2002-2006 have agents seen this kind of buyer activity, in all price ranges. Sales have been solid in Summerland, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, and Goleta as well this summer, […]
The months of May and June, and now into July 2020, are proving to be the most active real estate months that many can remember in Montecito during the past 15+/- years. Whether it be Boomers flexing their buying muscle and finally committing to a place in Montecito, perhaps Ellen’s celebrity friends, the Bay Area […]
Montecito Market Update Real estate transactions in Montecito have been steadily increasing over the last two months, reflecting an influx of out-of-town buyers flocking to purchase in the 93108 zip code since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown began mid-March. The last few weeks have been incredibly active, with 28 homes going into escrow in Montecito since […]
We as consumers have plenty to talk about in our current environment. The world overall has shifted into a new existence with many changes affecting our personal, business, and political lives. The mortgage world is no exception. Since March, lenders have seen their pipelines swell with refinance business due to absurdly low interest rates, while […]
One of the handful of go-to real estate agents for Montecito, Dan Encell has been studiously observing the ebb-and-flow of the crown jewel of Santa Barbara’s luxury housing market for more than three decades. He’s seen it all, but even Encell was surprised by the insistent ringing of his cell phone at a time when […]
As we wrestle with the evolving ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Barbara’s commercial real estate world is learning how to conduct business at a distance, leaving previously on-site activities on the sidelines. MJ recently caught up with Santa Barbara native and real estate appraiser Greg Brashears to discuss navigating through a pandemic and all […]
To say it has been an active spring in the Montecito Real Estate market would be an understatement. Without even taking into considering the recent, national challenges, and even when comparing to most 45+/- day periods, regardless of market conditions in recent years, it has been a good six weeks in the Montecito Real Estate […]
It was March 2004 and I was pregnant with our first child when my husband and I bought our home here. We’d married nine months earlier at the San Ysidro Ranch and we would drive up for weekends, rue L.A.’s show biz culture and roam around Montecito, fantasizing about raising our kids in one of […]
The Montecito Heat Index measures present demand for Montecito single-family homes. By focusing upon buyer contracts, rather than closed escrows which typically lag a month or longer from accepted contracts, the Heat Index provides a forward-looking indicator of both market strength and direction. At five distinct price points, we look at where value is most […]
It was a good May in terms of home sales in Montecito and the greater 93108. In fact, some agents are even saying the market is basically on fire and in most price ranges. Indeed, we have had a few of the usual under-two-million-dollar sales, as well as a few in the $3-$5-million range as […]
The real estate market in Montecito and Santa Barbara remains strong, despite major changes to the way properties are marketed and viewed. Sales in Montecito are up from last year in May; as of press time 16 homes have sold in May, with five full days still left in the month. This is compared to […]
I hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying “at-home time” as much as is possible. Perhaps by the time this article is out on the streets, there will be more people out and about. In the meantime, regardless of being somewhat back to normal or not, we are all spending more time at home and […]
Oliver’s, the Coast Village Road vegetarian restaurant that took five years to transform from the old Peabody’s space under owner cell phone billionaire Craig McCaw, 70, has been sold, says my mole with the martini. McCaw, who has moved back to Seattle, has been divesting himself of his properties in our rarefied enclave, including his […]
Last Friday, I took a guided tour of a charming abode hidden at the end of a long and curving driveway on East Mountain Road. Located just a block away from the San Ysidro Trailhead, the property included an historical guest cottage (believed to have once belonged to Priscilla Presley), and a home office above […]
