Hope's Dream Home - $50M

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Hollywood icon Bob Hope and his wife Dolores have listed their desert dream home for a cool $50,000,000. Set in Palm Springs, an area that in its heyday was a glamorous playground for Hollywood's elite, the Hopes have collaborated with renowned modernist architect John Lautner to create a visionary property of unsurpassed contemporary design. The sprawling 23,000 square foot home overlooks the Coachella Valley with views of the surrounding mountains. Completed in 1980, the home is described by Luxury Portfolio International as a "stunning structural symphony blending concrete, steel, and glass crowed by a curving copper roof." Boasting a tennis court, indoor and outdoor pools, a putting green and a pond with a waterfall, the Hopes' imaginative dream home was designed for all aspects of a leisurely and relaxed lifestyle while expansive terraces rest beneath the stars to create the ultimate entertaining paradise. Love contemporary architecture? Is $50M just out of your budget?  Explore these listings offered by Riskin Associates:

Chic Sophistication: an ideal illustration of contemporary style, this entertainer's property enjoys two guest suites, two pools, fantastic entertaining patios and the perfect location for strolling to Montecito's Lower Village to enjoy a glass of sangria or warm cup of coffee.

Inspiring Architecture: a collaborative effort by acclaimed architects Pierre Gabrol and Steven Ehrlich, this contemporary home is an artistic juxtaposition of clean, modern lines surrounded by timeless mature oaks, lush gardens and commanding mountain peaks.

Low Housing Inventory: A Country-wide Epidemic

a montecito home currently on the market

After a stellar year in 2012, the real estate market is experiencing a historically low supply of listed properties all over the country. An article by CNBC's Diana Olick discusses the current state of the market and cites several potential factors contributing to this painfully low inventory. According to Olick's article, listings are down 17% over March 2012 and potential contributing factors include that many Americans owe more than their property is worth, so a move could incur a great expense, which discourages homeowners from listing their property. Also, as home prices rise, many potential sellers may be waiting to see how high the prices will go before listing.

However, despite the low inventory, the pending home sales index is up 7% over March 2012, predicting an increase in closing sales. Across the country, pending home sales are inching upwards with the west seeing a 1.5% increase and the south is up 2.7%. The east coast stayed the same and the midwest is up 0.3%.

With home prices rising and an abnormally low inventory, the market is experiencing a fantastic season for sellers! Riskin Associates, Montecito's #1 selling agent represents properties of distinction in Montecito.

Pacific Pride Foundation's Royal Ball

Dina Landi and Rebecca Riskin of Riskin Associates support the PPF at the Royal Ball.

Set on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific ocean, ten minutes north of our office in Montecito, the beautiful Bacara Resort & Spa hosted the Pacific Pride Foundation's annual Royal Ball. Event planner extraordinaire Merryl Brown created a magical evening full of surprise for over 500 guests. Rebecca Riskin attended along with partner Dina Landi of Riskin Associates to support the Foundation, which provides services to the HIV/AIDS and LGBT communities of Santa Barbara.

The event was hosted by an impressive list of honorary chairs including actor Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, Iron Chef Cat Cora and her wife and a number of other prominent members of the LGBT community and straight supporters. A feast for the senses, guests enjoyed a delicious offering of culinary creations including short ribs and onion rings resting atop a bed of mashed potatoes, elegantly served in martini glasses. American Idol alum Miss Frenchie Davis performed along with extreme stilt performers, torque acrobats and go-go dancers who wowed guests with their own incredible performances. Acclaimed LA DJ Mike Bryant ensured the dance floor was packed well passed the stroke of midnight.

Performers kept guests begging for more/

The ball brought together a community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and straight supporters to share an evening of fun and fundraising in support of the Pacific Pride Foundation. The Foundation is the only organization on the central coast providing the LGBT community with HIV and AIDS services and education as well as a number of important counseling services for members of the community such as sensitivity training for law enforcement and teens.

A Growing Trend in Green Home Energy

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In his recent article, a custom home builder in Santa Barbara, Doug Ford of DD Ford Construction Inc., highlights the latest trend in home energy solutions, geothermal heating and cooling systems. The technology has gained popularity as homeowners are becoming more aware of their homes' impact on the environment. Geothermal systems use the temperature of the earth 8 ft below ground to regulate the temperature of the air that is distributed through the home's central air system. The temperature of the earth fluctuates far less than the temperature of the outside air, allowing a comfortable temperature to be reached using less fossil fuels than conventional heating and cooling systems. Also, geothermal systems emit no greenhouse gases, which have been linked to global warming. Your inner economist will appreciate another benefit of the new technology, the investment return on geothermal system installation. Geothermal systems have been shown to cut monthly energy usage by half, and as an incentive the Federal Government is offering a 30% tax credit on the cost and installation of geothermal systems through the year 2016.

Cities across California, including Montecito, are doing their best to reduce their carbon footprint. Geothermal energy is a trending way to accomplish this goal while saving homeowners money on their monthly energy bill. Riskin Associates, like DD Ford Construction Inc., wants to know, is geothermal energy in your future?

Does your home insurance cover meteors?

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With a meteor exploding in a Siberian neighborhood just last week, it's a good question to ask: "Does my homeowner's insurance cover falling objects from outer space?" Rest assured, the answer is yes.

Home insurance policies covers falling objects including meteorites, space junk and even blue ice - the frozen sewage that occasionally falls from airplanes. The chances of your Montecito estate actually getting hit by a falling object is incredibly low, as most debris turns in to dust particles by the time it reaches us.

According to an article by CNN Money, an asteroid would have to be the size of  Volkswagen when it enters our atmosphere to do any real damage. The recent event in Russia typically happens only once every 100 years.

Santa Barbara Real Estate Review - A Stronger Market

Santa Barbara South Coast Real Estate Sales - courtesy of Carol Kruckenberg

Jackie Walters, a fellow realtor at Village Properties, recently wrote an article for the Santa Barbara News-Press recapping our 2012 real estate market. Her overall sentiment was that our market was much stronger at the close of 2012, leading us into a bright 2013.

When looking at sales totals from over the past decade or so, a strong increase in the volume of sales can be noted for 2012. In fact, more homes and PUDs sold in 2012 than any other year since 2000. Sales were up 33% from 2011, even exceeding annual numbers during the height of the market in 2004-2005. The dollar volume for these sales was up nearly 55% from 2001, with over $1.7 billion residential real estate sales. Riskin Associates had a banner year, contributing over $220 million to that total.

Inventory has dropped steadily over the past twelve months, with little over 300 homes for sale from Carpinteria to Goleta. With 3.9 months of inventory market-wide, this shows a solid seller's market. In December, properties were on the market for an average of 56 days, dropping steeply from 101 days in December 2011.

High-end home sales, for properties priced over $5 million, increased almost 100% year-over-year. There were 25 such sales in 2011 compared with 48 in 2012. Many sellers adjusted their expectations on price, coinciding with a steady increase in buyers in the upper range.

Meanwhile cash sales are up, as some investors find local real estate a stronger investment than financial markets. The Cheif Economist of the California Aossication of Realtors, Leslie Appleton-Young, described our current market as "a buying opportunity that comes around only once in a generation." What an exciting prospect!

Promising Year End Real Estate Stats

December 2012 South County Santa Barbara Real Estate Sales

The Santa Barbara real estate numbers are in, and the end of 2012 is reporting a huge spike. Closed sales for South Santa Barbara County reached 275 in December, jumping 45% over the previous month, and up 62% over the same time last year. December closed sales were actually 22% higher than the county's previous 5 year peak in May 2012.  Looking ahead to 2013, the Santa Barbara MLS had 63 new listings, 22 price reductions and 32 pending sales last week, all double what we saw the first week of year. Nationwide, listing prices were up 5.1% year-over-year in December according to Truila. In fact 82% of major metro markets reported year-over-year listing price gains. This goes hand-in-hand with declining inventory, as December nationwide inventory dipped over 17% year-over-year. Four of the top ten cities with the largest asking price recovery were in California, while these same cities reported over a 50% decline in inventory.

90% of Home Buyers Use Online Search

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A new report resulting from a joint study between the National Association of Realtors and Google offers staggering statistics on the digital house hunt. Here are some highlights from the study...

• Online real estate search on Google.com increased 22% year-over-year
• Google's online real estate search increased a staggering 253% over the last four years
• 54% of buyers went straight to the web first to start their real estate search
• Google real estate related searches on mobile devices grew 120% year-over-year from 2011 to 2012
• 36% of new home shoppers use their mobile device for real estate searches while watching TV
• YouTube is the top video search destination for home buyers
• 75% of seniors use the internet to search for real estate

Santa Barbara named a top town for $10+ real estate

A recent CNBC report listed Santa Barbara as a top town for sales of $10 million homes. Santa Barbara tied for second place with Aspen, CO with thirteen homes selling for $10 million or more in 2012. Riskin Associates closed six of the thirteen $10+ million sales, representing sellers for three, buyers for two and both buyer/seller for one sale.  All six sales were in Montecito. The report also noted that the number of homes priced at $10 million or more continues to grow,  a good indicator for the coming year. There are currently 38 homes listed in the Santa Barbara MLS over $10 million, 22 of which are located in Montecito.

Santa Barbara County's Record Year

The November numbers are in from Santa Barbara County's CORT report, which charts monthly sales for both North and South county. Santa Barbara South County sales for 2012 are up a staggering 41% over 2011. Last month's sales were up 50% over the same month last year, and 90% over November 2007. Meanwhile, Rebecca Riskin & Associates has closed 32 sales year-to-date for a total of $218 million, four times the amount of sales in 2011.

2013 Housing Market Outlook

Freddie Mac released its December U.S. Economic and Housing Outlook today, with projections for the nation's housing market in 2013. As property values continue to strengthen in 2013, Freddie Mac expects U.S. house price indexes to rise by 2-3%. For the first half of 2013, long-term mortgage rates should remain near their record lows, which is good news to buyers struggling with low inventory and multiple offer situations. These buyers should still have some time to take advantage of low interest rates, as Freddie Mac expects long-term fixed-rate mortgage rates to remain below 4% next year. Finally, it projects mortgage refinancing to continue to grow in early 2013, but will eventually drop down from 2012 highs.

Buying vs. Renting in Santa Barbara County

Recent headlines have indicated that many markets show a better buying scenario when compared to rental costs. A recent report by Zillow studied the breakeven horizon for buying vs. renting in major markets across the country. The idea is that if buyers plan on staying in a home past the breakeven horizon, it becomes more financially advantageous to buy a property instead of renting. So what does this scenario look like in Santa Barbara County? Montecito has the longest breakeven horizon at 5.7 years, comparable to other high dollar markets like Manhattan. Santa Barbara came in at a projected 4.7 years. Zillow took into consideration all costs associated with buying a home and renting the same property to determine their breakeven horizon.

Santa Barbara named one of best housing markets

Need another reason to invest in real estate in Santa Barbara County? According to Fiserv Case-Shiller data, the Santa Barbara metro area will be one of the top 15 housing markets in the United States for the next five years.  Annualized growth from 2012 – 2017 is expected to exceed 8%. For a frame of reference, home prices nationwide are only expected to increase by 3.3% over the next five years. In fact, only five metro areas ranked higher than Santa Barbara in projected annualized growth. Yahoo! Finance ranked the top 15 cities by a combination of projected changes in home prices, median home prices and household income, unemployment rates and changes in home prices since their peak. Read more here...

Pending home sales at promising levels

As another good sign for the housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported another increase in pending home sales last month. The Pending Home Sales Index increased by over 5% in October, signalling the highest level in over five years. Pending home sales have risen for 18 consecutive months on a year-over-year basis. A chief economist from the National Association of Realtors noted that we are finally feeling the impact of steady job creation and consumer confidence. Learn more here...

Record Real Estate Highs and Lows

Nationwide home prices are on the rise, posting the largest % gain in over two years. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller index, the third quarter 3.6% increase year over year is the biggest jump in house prices since early 2010. In addition, home prices have increased for six consecutive months. The Wall Street Journal credits several factors for continued price increases, including an increase in rents, a decrease in foreclosures and distressed sales, and the lowest housing inventory in nearly 50 years.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates continue to fall, reaching new record lows last week for the second consecutive week as reported by Freddie Mac. 30 year fixed rates averaged a new low of 3.31%, down from 3.98% a year ago.

Delayed financing the new norm?

In real estate, all-cash buyers are king. It's common knowledge that buyers who come in with all-cash offers can close quickly and offer the most secure deals, often beating out other offers backed by conventional financing. But with recent mortgage rates at record lows, financing has also become very appealing. So which option should you choose?

A recent phenomenon called delayed financing is becoming a common practice of affluent buyers. Instead of deciding between bringing a strong, all-cash offer and the benefit of record-low financing, buyers are choosing both. With limited inventory and competitive bidding, these buyers are coming in with strong, all-cash offers, only to turn around and secure financing as soon escrow closes. Rarely used two years ago, delayed financing is becoming very popular in >$1 million coastal housing markets. To learn more, check out this recent Wall Street Journal article.

Lucky "8" Real Estate

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal featured lucky numbers in real estate. Apparently the number 4 is very unlucky for Asian buyers, similar to the word for "death." Both addresses and listing prices should avoid this number. On the other hand, the number 8 is very lucky, similar to the word "prosperity" or "wealth." Lucky for us, we have a listing with three 8's in the address! Our listing at 888 Lilac Drive is at the height of luxury and world-class quality, built as a toxin free home with timeless elegance. Perhaps it will bring a lucky buyer a lifetime of prosperity, along with endless ocean views, a swimmer's pool and Wimbledon standards lawn!

Where Do Our Buyers Come From?

A report titled "Who's Buying Homes in Santa Barbara County" was recently released following a local survey. The findings included the origin of buyers, primary or secondary home purchases, first time homebuyer stats and where sellers were moving on to. A total of fifteen realtors participated in the survey, providing details on 165 closed sales, while our own Village Properties provided data on 204 closed sales, all from the first half of 2012. The survey found that 69% of buyers came from the South Coast, while only 31% came from out of town. These numbers are consistent with the area's average over the past eight years that the survey has been conducted. Only 16% of buyers came from outside California, and an even smaller 4% came from outside the United States. Of the California buyers originating outside of Santa Barbara County, the majority came from the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

The survey also indicated that 58% of sellers appear to be downsizing, which is up 8% over the historical average. Also interesting to note, 36% of those downsizing indicated they are leaving the South Coast. While this may seem high, it's actually lower that the average calculated throughout the survey's history.

This got us to thinking....where do our buyers come from? As we specialize in Montecito properties of distinction, certainly our buyer base might look a bit different from the rest of Santa Barbara County. We pulled stats on our own 27 closed sales year-to-date and found the following. Only 22% of our buyers were local, as compared to Santa Barbara County's 69%. A much higher percentage of our buyers came from elsewhere in California. We also saw a higher percentage of international buyers, at 11% compared with the county's 4%. We plan to run the numbers again soon to keep tabs on specific high-end Montecito buyers.

October Santa Barbara Sales Statistics

Another spike in the Santa Barbara South County sales report for the month of October continues our streak of record real estate numbers this year. October sales grew 23% over the previous month, while numbers were up 66% over the same month last year. It also appears that closed sales picked up again this Fall, avoiding an early 4th quarter slump from years past. Perhaps buyers have taken the recent press coverage to heart regarding the quickly recovering local housing market.

Montecito Has 19th Most Expensive Zip Code

A recent article from Forbes listed Montecito as the 19th most expensive zip code in the nation. Montecito trailed markets like Los Altos, Beverly Hills and Rancho Santa Fe in California, while Manhattan's Upper East Side snagged the top spot.  The writers compiled their rankings with the help of a California company that tracks housing data, pulling pricing for more than 20,000 zip codes across the country for a 90 day period. The firm calculated the median asking price, median price change, average days on the market and local inventory. According to the report, the main factor driving today's listing prices in the most expensive zip codes this year is overall lack of inventory.

93108: Montecito, CA

Median home price: $3,236,765

Median price change: 3.6%

Average Days on Market: 228

Inventory: 194