On Friday, May 11, 2007, I attended the presentation of the North Santa Barbara County U.C.S.B. Economic Forecast at Allan Hancock College. The first person I bumped into was the Mayor of Santa Maria, Larry Lavignino. Of course, I took the opportunity to mention the idea of turning Santa Maria into a wired city, and I cited Lompoc’s recent effort. Mayor Lavignino pointed out that Lompoc’s program has not been a financial success. That same day, I did speak to a Lompoc City Councilman, and he pointed out that they have had to make improvements to their program. They currently have about 500 subscribers and charge $15 per month to use the service, and are working out the kinks. Encouragingly, they have been able to eliminate some meter reading positions, as the system will now accomplish this remotely. That will be a savings to the City of Lompoc and help to justify the cost of the service.
During the presentation, the last speaker, Bill Watkins, pointed out that we need amenities to attract people to our region. I think a wired city is exactly the type of amenity that is attractive to young professionals and technology companies. Speaker David Hayes-Bautista also pointed out that support and encouragement of Latino-owned businesses is vitally important to this region. It is both the past and future of California. In fact, Santa Maria led the state in the percentage growth of Latino-owned businesses; we had a 251.4% increase, while Santa Barbara had a decrease (-39.6%). So, in his view, Latino Santa Maria is booming, while Latino Santa Barbara is hurting. The availablility of affordable housing in Santa Maria certainly plays a huge role in this.
Now onto the Los Alamos real estate market update. Not much change in this market at all. The number of listed homes remains 17, and there is still only one pending transaction. In the past 30 days, no expired listings, 1 sold listing, and 2 new listings. The most expenisve of the new listings is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 2300 sq. ft. home sitting on almost a quarter of an acre with hill views. It is offered at $689,000.
Next is the Guadalupe real estate market update. Not much change here either. There are 22 active listings, and one home under contract. In the last 30 days, 2 homes sold, 5 homes were listed, and no listings expired. The last home sold went for $400,000 on April 23, 2007; it was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500 sq.ft. cul-de-sac home. It was on the market for 139 days.
Remember to contact Mint Properties for all your Central Coast real estate needs. I would love to assist you in taking advantage of recent market conditions. Please contact my office today at (805) 938-9950. Also, feel free to search for Central Coast properties on my website.
*Based on the information from the Central Coast Regional MLS for the 30 days prior to this posting, May 12, 2007. Neither the Association, the Multiple Listing Service, or Mint Properties guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
