Santa Barbara Multifamily Rents Surge 27% From Pre-Pandemic Levels
Multifamily rents in Santa Barbara, California, continue to climb in the post-pandemic world. In the third quarter, they averaged $2,730 per month, representing a rise of three percent year-over-year, according to a report from Colliers. And since the fourth quarter of 2019, rents have increased by 27 percent.
Another category that performed strongly was sales volume, surging by 31 percent to $59.9 million. Most of the activity occurred in the core Santa Barbara submarket, which saw about $49.41 million in volume. Also, average prices per unit rose by eight percent to $392,703 in the entire market. Cap rates in the market averaged 4.6 percent.
Multifamily occupancy was up slightly in Santa Barbara by 10 basis points to 97.7 percent. This number is in line with pre-pandemic levels.
Another encouraging trend: deliveries slowed considerably to just 22 units compared with 84 a year ago.
"Construction activity remains light, with 22 units delivered in Q3 and 131 units currently underway," Colliers said.
Meanwhile, the one negative was demand in the third quarter. Net absorption was just 22 units compared with 50 a year ago.
Source: GlobeSt/ALM