Published April 27, 2026

Inventory Rising, Strategy Matters

Written by Justin Etherton

Spring inventory is rising—here’s what it means for buyers and sellers in Santa Barbara.

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Spring Is Here 🌷🏡

Is it just me, or has this spring felt a little unpredictable?

Rainy days, heat waves, and perfect weather in between—it’s been a mix. The Santa Barbara real estate market is feeling similar… but one thing is clear: it’s heating up.

Despite ongoing challenges like limited inventory and higher interest rates, we’re seeing momentum build.

📊 What’s changed:
• Nearly 50 more homes hit the market compared to February
• Homes are taking about 12 days longer to sell
• Sale prices are coming in about 1% closer to asking

There’s still strong activity, and almost all of my buyers are saying the same thing:

👉 “There’s a lot more to look at now.”

This follows the typical seasonal pattern. From now through August, we’ll see the highest number of new listings. After that, inventory usually drops off for the rest of the year.

What Does This Mean for You?

🏡 Buyers:
This could be your window. More inventory means more choices—and potentially more leverage.

📈 Sellers:
More inventory also means more competition. The key is to be the best perceived value in your neighborhood.

A Quick Story (and Lesson)

I recently closed on a home in Goleta that was a great deal for my clients—but the final walkthrough was anything but smooth.

Instead of a clean, empty home, we walked into a property filled with belongings… and yes, even a yard that hadn’t been cleaned up.

Because I know our contracts well, I was able to require the seller to return and handle the cleanup before closing.

Takeaways:
✔️ Sellers: Leave your home clean and fully cleared
✔️ Buyers: Always do a final walkthrough
✔️ Representation matters—details make a difference

🎯 A Little Fun

I’m closing on the lowest-priced property I’ve ever sold—and I want to make a game out of it.

Closest guess wins a $50 gift card 💳

Here are your hints:
• Over 2.5 acres
• Located in the desert

👉 Reply with your guess to enter. I’ll announce the winner on Instagram and in next month’s newsletter.

California’s Housing Market Holds Steady as US Shifts Toward Buyers

By Shairin

EDHAT NEWSROOM

California’s housing market is holding steady even as the overall U.S. market shifts in favor of buyers, according to a new Redfin report.

As per the data, the gap between sellers and buyers in the U.S. is currently at 43.1%, representing almost 600,168 more sellers than buyers. This marks one of the widest gaps since 2013 and a notable jump from 28% a year earlier. The record remains 45.2% in December 2025.
In contrast to this, the California market is showing a more balanced trend.

The national numbers show that there are about 1.39 million buyers and 1.99 million sellers currently in the market. This shows that buyers’ demand has gone down due to the high housing costs and persistent economic uncertainty.

Redfin defines buyer’s marketas when there are more than 10% sellers compared to buyers, whereas a seller’s market means that there are fewer than 10% sellers. A gap within plus or minus 10% is considered balanced. The U.S. has been operating as a buyer’s market since May 2024, according to Redfin.

The Sun Belt, a region that extends from Virginia and Florida, is experiencing a massive surge in inventory due to ramped-up homebuilding, with Miami seeing 148% more sellers than buyers and Austin at 112%.

In contrast, California metros like San Francisco and San Jose remain much closer to balanced levels, with seller surpluses of just 12.1% and 28.5%, respectively.

It shows that California’s coastal hubs are more resilient than inland and Southern regions.

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Read the full Article Here

These 13 Real Estate Markets Have the Most Million-Dollar Homes: Report

Scenic, lifestyle-driven destinations across the U.S. are increasingly dominated by seven-figure listings.

Robb Report
By Abby Montanez

In a growing number of U.S. markets, luxury real estate is no longer a niche—it’s the norm. According to Realtor.com’s March 2026 Luxury Housing Report, 13 markets across the country now qualify as “pure luxury,” meaning more than half of all homes for sale are priced at $1 million or more. In some cases, that share is even higher, with nearly every listing in Nantucket, Massachusetts—99 percent—now clearing the seven-figure mark. Nationwide, for comparison, just 13.1 percent of listings are priced above $1 million.

Most of the markets on the list are well-known resort and second-home destinations. The island of Nantucket leads by a wide margin, followed by Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard, where 90 percent of homes are priced above $1 million, and Jackson, Wyoming, at 68 percent. Coastal California markets—including Santa Barbara, Napa, and Santa Cruz—also rank among the priciest.

Then there’s the outlier: Petoskey, Michigan. This charming town on Lake Michigan has emerged as a surprising luxury hotspot, with 53 percent of listings now surpassing $1 million. Unlike the typical coastal and mountain retreats, Petoskey demonstrates how the allure of scenic lifestyle-focused destinations is driving demand—and prices—into the seven-figure range in less expected places.

Nationally, the entry point for luxury—roughly the top 10 percent of listings—rose to about $1.25 million in March from the previous month, though it remains slightly below last year’s level. Even as the broader market cools, in the country’s most exclusive destinations, high prices aren’t the exception—they’re the expectation.

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Read the full Article Here

California built more homes than people over six years — so why is housing still so tight?

Vacancy rates remain well below national averages as decades of under building created a deep hole, economist says
Fox Business
By Eric Revell

California's housing market is seeing an increase in inventory while the state's population growth slows, but strong demand stemming from longstanding scarcity has kept the market tight.

An analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found that the state added 677,000 housing units over a six-year period in which California's population grew by only 39,000 residents.

Despite the relative growth in the number of housing units available, vacancy rates showed the market remained tight, with PPIC finding that owner vacancy declined from 1.2% to 0.8% while the rental vacancy rate was 4.3% in 2024, well below the national rate of 5.9%.

"Even though the state is adding more housing units than people, it was in such a deep hole that the recent successes in homebuilding are not enough to truly move the needle," said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.

The state's longstanding shortage of housing units will require more construction to get inventory levels closer to the market's equilibrium, as the state will need 2.5 million additional homes, according to a 2022 estimate by the state's housing agency.

PPIC's analysis also noted a demographic trend that's affecting California's housing market, with average household sizes declining in recent years.

It found that California lost 82,000 households with children and gained 722,000 households without them from 2019 to 2024.

"Fewer people living under the same roof means more roofs are required for the same number of people," Berner said.

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Read the full Article Here

Pending home sales lift, but momentum could be ‘cut short’

Though mortgage rates climbed in March, pending sales increased 1.5% compared to February — but what happens next will depend on how the war in Iran progresses.

Real Estate News
By: Dave Gallagher

Homebuying activity gained a bit of momentum last month even as mortgage rates climbed and widespread uncertainty about the war in Iran bloomed.

Pending sales tick up: Pending sales increased 1.5% month-over-month in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Despite the improvement over February, last month's data still came in 1.1% below one year earlier, when the spring homebuying season was dragging amid significantly higher 30-year mortgage rates.

The increase from February to March could be attributed to buyers opting to lock in rates and sign contracts before conditions worsen, suggested Realtor.com Senior Economist Anthony Smith, who noted that pending sales typically turn into closed sales a month or two later.

"Despite the upward drift, rates remained roughly half a percentage point below the same period last year, preserving much of the year-over-year buying power gains that have quietly been accumulating," Smith said.

So far this week, 30-year mortgage rates have held steady around 6.3%, according to Mortgage News Daily. Stocks and oil prices also remained relatively flat as the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deadline loomed and last-minute talks occurred.

'Stronger' market activity expected in the South: The South was the only region to experience year-over-year growth in March, according to NAR, while pending sales ticked up on a month-to-month basis in the South and the Northeast. These differences reflect a fragmented market heading into the peak homebuying season.

"A good number of markets in the South experienced price cuts over the past year but recorded the strongest job growth," noted Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. "That combination should lead to stronger housing market activity in the South this year."

Uncertainty holds as Iran war continues: If the Iran war ends soon and energy prices start falling, the housing market would still have a few meaningful advantages compared to last spring, according to Smith. In addition to comparatively lower mortgage rates, there is more housing inventory now than in early 2025 — and price cuts are occurring in many markets.

Meanwhile, sellers outnumber buyers by a significant margin nationally, a factor that could also lead to stronger negotiating leverage in many markets, according to a recent Redfin report.

But the Iran conflict and rising mortgage rates could lead to a repeat of last spring, Smith noted, which showed early promise before buyers pulled back amid widespread economic uncertainty due to tariffs. "The risk is that this progress gets cut short," Smith said.

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More Info Here

ANOTHER SUCCESS STORY!!!

Congratulations to my amazing clients Dan and Molly on closing your new home in Goleta. This was a difficult transaction (one of my most difficult) and yet you stuck with it and now have an amazing home in one of the best neighborhoods in Goleta.