Mesa Market Mojo Report – Nov-Dec 2017: A Year Filled with Major Milestones

I got my real estate license in 1977. In September 2017 I reached my 40th year in real estate. When I first started selling homes on the Mesa gas was 65 cents a gallon and my first real estate car was a Volkswagen bug. I was wearing 3-piece suits, complete with vest and paisley tie. Bell bottoms were still in fashion in those days. The average 3-bedroom, 1-bath, Marine Terrace Mesa home was going for $90,000. Compare that to $1,200,000 today.

This past year was notable—one of the best of my career. I reached several memorable milestones. On the Mesa I closed my 400th sale. And the total for the entire south coast reached house number 750.

Personally I had 14 closings in 2017 on the Mesa. For 93109 that is the highest total for this year of all individual agents from all the companies in the Multiple Listing Service. I could not have done it without the help of Mesa homeowners, the staff at Berkshire Hathaway, and assistance from Gail Gallessich, my wife.

During my career I was the first agent to teach home preparation and staging at the SBCC Adult Ed. Today, this work is the basis for entire cable TV networks devoted to fixing up real estate. I have fixed up, and prepared for sale, more than 240 houses in Santa Barbara.

This puts me at the center of each transaction. I have made the choices for $6 million worth of home fix-up items. I know what really works when it is time to sell. If you want to fix and flip your own home, and earn top dollar in the market, call me.

Mesa Market 2017

Buyer interest in Mesa homes remains strong. We had a good month, with 11 Mesa closings in the past 30 days. Looking at the past 12 months of house sales there were 109 closings in 93109 and a median price of $1,369,000.

The 12 months prior had 88 closings and a median price of $1,266,000. That is a 24 percent increase in sales and an 8 percent increase in sales price. That is a pickup from the 3 percent price growth last year.

We ended the year in 93109 with 20 active listings, and 11 pending escrows. In December last year there were 38 listings and 7 pending escrows. Clearly, there are fewer listings and more sales than a year ago. This bodes well for home sellers and puts pressure on buyers.

Client Talk…

“Scott was very helpful during the purchase process and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for real estate in the Santa Barbara area.”
– Chris Wagy