August 2026 Market Update

Happy August, almost September! This month I was fortunate enough to take my very first 2 full week vacation! My friends and I flew into Istanbul, enjoyed a Turkish bath and did an amazing food tour through both the European and Asian sides of the country. We then got on a 10 day cruise that stopped in Turkey, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and Italy. What a whirlwind! It was over 90 degrees, with high humidity, yet we were able to enjoy a lot of it. It also reminded me why I love Santa Barbara so much. I was excited to get back home!
 
The market has been interesting to say the least. Not much of a change over the last few months, although we are seeing a little more inventory coming on, then going off.  August tends to be slower due to going back to school. We are still seeing multiple offers when a home is priced properly. Compared to last year, we saw more sales this July (88 vs 78), yet sales prices were lower in both average ($3,155,597/$3,407,381) and median ($2,061,250/$2,302,500) sold prices. Surprisingly, we had 12 sales over $5M with the highest at $16,500,000 which was a Manuel Cervantes home in the Golden Quadrangle.
 
Don’t forget the Santa Barbara Humane Gala is coming up soon on September 19! I’m the chairperson, and I am so excited for this year’s event! It is a western theme and is on the Humane campus, so there will be lots of dogs around!  We are looking for a few more sponsors or donations of restaurant gift cards, wine or other items suitable for gift baskets. Let me know if you have anything that might work. I’m happy to pick it up! And if you want to buy tickets to the event, you can get them here: https://sbhumane.org/gala2026/
 
As always, let me know if you have any real estate questions I can answer for you!
 
Cheers!
Ruth Ann & Angie