From 2014 to 2016 we experienced the three strongest years of commercial sales on the South Coast since Radius began recording market activity in 1998. In fact 2014’s record 103 transactions were nearly matched by last year’s 101. And despite the fact that dollar volume dipped last year to $366 Million versus $437 Million and $439 Million in 2014 and 2015 respectively, 2016 was still a strong year by any standard.

Enter 2017 and, while we are on track for another strong year, we do appear to be in a bit of a transition period (call it transformation?) with some divergent storylines emerging, particularly involving industrial and retail properties in the downtown area…

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South Coast Leasing Summary

Santa Barbara’s office vacancy rate remained stable with a slight decrease from 5.8% in the second quarter to 5.6% during the third quarter. The majority of vacancies remain below the 3,000 sq. ft. range, with leasing activity skewing heavily to smaller spaces: 48 new leases involving spaces under 3,000 sq. ft. over the past three quarters, versus just 18 new leases for spaces over 3,000 sq. ft. The largest lease during that time period was at 425 N. Milpas St. for 9,200 SF. But perhaps the most noteworty activity came in Q2 when LogicMonitor gobbled up more than 20,000 sq. ft. at 820 State St. (which includes 5,800 SF of former retail space on the first floor). The company is vacating 5,800 sq. ft. at 12 E. Carrillo St…

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South Santa Barbara County Multifamily Summary

South County multifamily sales have continued this year well behind 2016’s extremely brisk pace (there were a record 42 sales of 5+ unit properties last year), and the only reason we are not seeing more is pure lack of inventory. The trend of historically low availability continued through the end of Q3 2017, while demand remains high for apartments particularly in Santa Barbara and Goleta. Still, some sellers are beginning to loosen up on their holdings as they see we remain in a seller’s market…

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