Weekly Perspective • Hope Ranch

Happy Friday everyone,

We're just finishing up our work week here at Berkshire Hathaway in Montecito. Last week we talked about Carpinteria and it's real estate market and this week we want to introduce you to the exclusive neighborhood, Hope Ranch. Hope Ranch is directly adjacent to Santa Barbara and is bordered by a spectacular private beach. That's just the start of it, you have La Cumbre country club, Laguna Blanca private school and 30 miles of equestrian riding trails. This is home to to more than one billionaire and everyone's favorite rapper, Snoop Dogg.

Snooooop

Now Hope Ranch real estate is not for the faint of heart, the average home sells for 4-5 million dollars and easily climbs up over 20 million dollars. Currently the most expensive home listed in Hope Ranch is a 25 million dollar, 10,000 square foot stunner. It's an ocean front property on almost 4 acres, with a pool, spa, home theatre, private dance studio and tennis court. This home was built by a former Apple executive so you guessed it has all the tech bells and whistles you can imagine. If this sounds like the home you've been thinking about buying, you might want to jump on this one, it has recently been reduced to 25 million dollars and supposedly costed only 30 million dollars to build.

There are more modest homes in Hope Ranch, but everybody shares the same exclusive lifestyle and privacy. Now more than ever is an opportunity to stand out from the pack and work with a real estate agent that understands your local market. Have a great weekend! We'll see you next week.

-Team Ralston + Hitchcock

Employment, Housing Market Point to Solid Santa Barbara County Economy

Rental market remains very tight, according to report by UCSB Economic Forecast ProjectBy Noozhawk, Tom Bolton

Santa Barbara County’s economy is doing fairly well in 2016. Employment is strong, the housing market has stabilized and wages are up.

That was the assessment offered Thursday during the annual Economic Summit presented by the UCSB Economic Forecast Project.

Several hundred people turned out at the Granada Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara for the morning-long program, which focused primarily on national and macro-economic trends.

But the annual report issued to coincide with the event included a trove of economic information about Santa Barbara County’s economy.

Of note was an increase in overall employment in the county in 2015 of 5,558 jobs, a gain of 2.8 percent and the largest rise since 2012.

The county’s unemployment rate declined to 5.1 percent, and statistical forecasts suggest it will drop further — to 4.9 percent by the end of the year.

The city of Goleta had the county’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.9 percent, while Lompoc had the highest, at 6.6 percent.

Other unemployment rates included Buellton, 3.2 percent; Santa Barbara, 4.0 percent; Carpinteria, 4.4 percent; Guadalupe, 4.8 percent; Santa Maria, 6.1 percent; and Solvang, 6.2 percent.

On the real estate front, the median home price for the county increased 17.5 percent from the previous year, to $676,494.

That growth rate was considerably larger than for the state (5.7 percent).

As prices rose, affordability fell in the county.

Only 23 percent of Santa Barbara County residents were able to afford the median-priced house, compared with 30 percent of residents statewide, and 58 percent nationally.

The surge in the housing market has made an already-tight rental-housing market that much more difficult, what the report’s authors called “not for the faint of heart.”

A vacancy rate of less than 1 percent contributed to an 8.7-percent spike in rents in 2015.

The report’s authors gave this assessment:

“As the prospect of owning a home becomes a fantasy, many local residents will remain renters indefinitely…Additional demand for high-quality rental housing is being generated by empty-nest Baby Boomers seek to simplify their lives by trading in the family home for a luxury apartment in a fun urban setting.”

Peter Rupert, executive director of the Forecast Project, discussed the ramifications of what he called income “unequality,” as opposed to inequality.

The county’s per-capita income gained 1.3 percent to $45,795 in 2014, the latest year for which figures are available.

The gains, he pointed out, were experienced more strongly by higher earners than those at the lower end of the economic scale.

Perhaps not surprisingly, northern Santa Barbara County has more people in the lower-income brackets, while the South Coast has more in the upper brackets.

This is due, in part, to the fact that the North County has vastly more agricultural workers, while the South Coast leads in governmental, professional and business services employees.

Thursday’s keynote speaker was James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who discussed U.S. monetary policy.

“U.S. labor markets are at or possibly well beyond reasonable conceptions of full employment,” he said.

He also noted that interest rates have remained low for the last several years, and global concerns — including the strong U.S. dollar — seem to be waning.

Inflation rates have remained below the target set by the Fed, he said, adding that “a gradual pace of rate increases over the next several years” is likely.

Read the full article at Noozhawk by Tom Bolton.

Short Term Vacation Rentals: What You Need to Know

Short term vacation rentals (lasting less than 30 days) are becoming more common throughout the Central Coast, along with home sharing (renting out a room or part of a unit while the primary resident is present). However, different areas have their own ordinances and regulations regarding renting out your home. Thinking of leasing your home temporarily? Check out these guidelines and requirements based on your location, provided by the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors.

Santa Barbara - Short term vacation rentals are prohibited in Santa Barbara, with certain exceptions that require you to get a business license. At the moment, the city is not issuing business licenses nor collecting Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). A Home Sharing Rental Ordinance is currently in the works.

Goleta - The city of Goleta requires several steps to be taken aside from obtaining a short term vacation rental permit. Goleta's ordinance takes into account the property owner, the vacationer, and the neighbors. In addition to a permit, Goleta requires a Nuisance Response Plan, a Transient Occupancy Tax Application for Certificate Registration, a Surety bond, a Declaration of Notification, and a General Business License Application.

Carpinteria - Carpinteria allows short term vacation rentals, but only in PRD zones (beach and downtown areas). The city also requires a business license and TOT.

Santa Barbara County - For unincorporated areas, there are no existing rules regarding short term vacation rentals, although this will likely change. A new ordinance addressing these rentals is expected to go into place next year. Currently, to have a short term vacation rental you are required to have a business license.

UCSB Welcomes Amazon.com Storefront: Amazon@IslaVista

Last Wednesday, UC Santa Barbara's beachside college town, Isla Vista, saw the opening of Amazon@IslaVista, an Amazon.com storefront that provides secure lockers for online orders. Amazon, the country's number one Internet retailer, is especially popular amongst college students, who order everything from snacks to clothes to college textbooks through the site. The new storefront is expected to increase security and reduce theft, a common occurrence in the small town where packages may be left unattended for hours at a time. Similar to long-term post office boxes, the Amazon storefront allows shoppers to select an Amazon locker for delivery rather than opting to receive a package delivery at home. Upon delivery, customers will receive a notification along with a personalized code for the locker. They then have up to five days to pick up the package before it is returned to the Amazon warehouse.

For students living on the UCSB campus or in Isla Vista, the new storefront will create a smoother and more secure shopping experience. This is especially true for students still living in on-campus dorms, whose packages are often left in common areas until the student returns to their room. For students with Amazon Student or Amazon Prime accounts, Amazon@IslaVista is also the first location to offer same-day delivery for eligible items - a game-changer for college kids who may have forgotten to order a textbook on time.

UCSB is one of several college campuses around the nation to provide a nearby Amazon storefront. While there are certain limitations to the store, such as restrictions on package size and weight, the store is expected to provide enhanced security and an easier shopping experience for the Isla Vista community.