Santa Barbara continues its high ranking in California’s luxury real estate market, with sky-high home prices.
The city is one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S., and the priciest in California, according to the Fall 2025 Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Luxury Housing Market Ranking released on October 23, 2025.
The Santa Maria-Santa Barbara region ranked 10th in the overall national luxury market list, with homes in the top 10% starting at a whopping $8.95 million.
This figure makes Santa Barbara one of the most expensive luxury housing markets in the country, outperforming nearly all other cities in the list.
Santa Barbara’s Coastal Appeal
Despite slipping a few spots from the previous quarter, Santa Maria-Santa Barbara continues to be one of the most desirable metros to buy a house. The region is home to some of the most expensive ZIP codes, including 93108 in Montecito and 93110 in Santa Barbara.
Million-dollar homes constitute the majority in the area, with nearly 73% of million-dollar listings in September, according to a news report by Realtor.com.
Santa Barbara remains in high demand for luxury homes for several reasons. The city enjoys nearly 300 days of sunshine, is close to beaches and mountains, and is home to a wealthy population, including celebrities and high-profile individuals.
As a coastal city, Santa Barbara also has limited space available for development, driving up the price of existing homes and their exclusivity.
New Entrant to Top 10
The San Diego-Carlsbad area made its entry into the top 10 of the Fall 2025 WSJ/Realtor.com Housing Market Ranking. The area climbed into the seventh spot, with homes in the 10% starting at $2.88 million.
The listing price slipped 4% year-over-year, making it a more appealing option for buying a house.
San Diego’s coastal charm, consistent demand, and premium lifestyle offerings have been drawing people to the city, according to the ranking.
Ranking Methodology
Every quarter, Realtor.com and the WSJ rank the nation’s top-performing luxury housing markets. A total of 60 metro areas are analyzed, based on factors such as supply and demand, economic health, and overall quality of life.
The ranking looks at 60 luxury housing markets, chosen for their size and concentration of homes listed for more than $1 million. Each market is scored on eight factors, divided into two main categories: real estate performance (60% of the score) and local economic and lifestyle factors (40%).
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yeah lets brag about that….meanwhile middle class and lower class income families are being squeezed out. $5200 for a very tiny two bedroom off of rancheria st, lower westside. this is the effect. The cause, inflated market. The neighborhood isn’t a $5200 area. It’s low income, poor, immigrants, students, single families.
KNEIN – that’s just wild! $5200 is insane.
We don’t need more housing, we need existing house to be AFFORDABLE housing. The State needs to stop building in crowded cities like ours and start subsidizing rent. Sure, it may sound “socialist,” but you can’t have a functioning city with no middle and working class. No, Beverly Hills isn’t an example. The people who can afford rents like that are usually professionals. Why would you leave a nice home in another town to move here to pay more to live in an apartment complex downtown?
At some point, even the young professionals will stop moving here. Imagine being a successful young attorney at one of our reputable firms but only being able to afford rent in a studio near the freeway? Not gonna happen for much longer.
More housing is not the answer unless it’s truly affordable.
The high cost is simply a matter of supply vs demand. The supply of housing is low, but the demand is quite high. SB has never been a cheap place to live, and most likely never will be a cheap place to live. There’s no way for SB to build its way out of the housing shortage. However, the areas north of Winchester Canyon along the coast will be forced to open up to new housing. The University of California Regents own scads of property in the Naples/El Capitan area. There are plenty of areas in Goleta that are “ripe” for housing development and retail businesses. Along with that housing there needs to be shopping/retail places such as a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants, etc. Even then, people will occupy any new housing and prices will continue to soar. Bummer
BEES – No, there is no more room in Goleta nor is there any need for additional shopping/retail. Have you ever been to Goleta? There’s enough there as it is.
Your defeatist attitude is helpless. We can’t build our way out, no, but we can’t just allow our entire middle, working and even young professional class disappear. We are not like Beverly Hills. We don’t have nearby neighborhoods to house our necessary workers, cops, young lawyers and doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. We need the state to step in and either mandate rent controls or subsidize a much larger portion of our housing. This town is not sustainable without necessary workers. Yes, it will always be desirable, but building more won’t increase the availability of actually affordable housing.
Most young professionals are choosing other towns to begin their careers in. We will eventually (in the not too distant future), be left with only the elderly rich community and once they’re gone…. well…..
If we are going to build more housing, affordable or not, between Carpinteria and say El Capitan, the only area is in Goleta. I am in Goleta ten times per week and know full well about the traffic at Storke/GA/Hollister. Look at all of the UCSB housing that went in at the ocean end of Cannon Green, with plans to build even more housing in the empty lot along Phelps. I hear ya Sacjon, but more people are coming to Goleta whether we like it or not. I predict by 2035 there will be at another 3-5,000 (or more!) in the northern part of Goleta. Already approved are some 500 units at the Yardi complex on South Fairview. Last I recall there are some 800-1000 units going in at Glenn Annie Golf Course, which was rezoned to accommodate this project. I agree, it really/really sucks, but Goleta residents need to prepare for the onslaught of additional residents.
There is plenty of room to build in SB, but it’s not going to be traditional 3BR/2BA SFH. It’s going to be multi-story apartments and condos.
mm1970: I don’t disagree with you at all, and SB continues to build up-n-up and are slated to add hundreds of units in the next four or five years. Goleta, on the other hand, continues to build at a much faster pace and will be adding thousands upon thousand of units. Sad to say, but the Goleta we know and love today is going to be a distant memory within the next decade. I cannot imagine the amount of traffic there will be in the year 2035. I’d say that the city/county/state should invest heavily in public transport, but sadly, most everyone wants their own vehicle. I ride the MTD buses all the time and can tell you that often some of the routes go nearly empty (Lines 14, 20, 3, and at times Lines 27 and 25). It’s so sad that so few in “green” GOO country just can’t “lower” themselves to step onto an MTD bus. Go figure.
Only adult losers, homeless, or teenage/college age kids who dont have a car use MTD
Really? You don’t see adult folks who work to make a living and don’t have cars using MTD? I do. Your comment looks like garbage…as usual.
Basic rides the bus apparently.
That was a pretty idiotic comment, for sure.
Goleta already looks so different from when I moved to the area almost 30 years ago. Unfortunately for MTD, some of it is simply convenience. For me to take MTD to work, it would take between 1 hour and 6 min and 1 hour and 36 minutes EACH WAY, with roughly 25-40 minutes of that walking. When I was young and single, I had a commute like that in a big city. But now? heck, I could ride my old cruiser bike faster than that (but I don’t). What would really be useful is rentable E-bikes between SB and Goleta.
I pray we never see Gaviota Coast developed , at least in my lifetime . It’s safe now . The minimum parcel size for ONE house is 320 acres.
Me too. Let’s keep fighting against the Gavin mandate to destroy our communities’ open spaces by bulldozing them for more cheapo homes. Keep LA away.
LOL, you’ve never fought for anything in your life.
Remember when Basic repped Larry Elder and the recall, yet said the American voters decided during the Trump impeachment?
No one has a “right” to live in this or any other very expensive place. Handing out other people’s tax dollars to subsidize folks who still want to live here despite not having the means is simply absurd. We’ve been through this before.
Kinda like those South African farmers, right? Or are our tax dollars better spent in Argentina? Or Israel? Or for a tacky ballroom?
BASIC – your entire understanding of how a society functions is absurd and based solely in lies. We’ve been through this before.
Where’s the lie in my statement? Right, there is none. Save it. Your bs is tired.
Tour comment on the other hand is a real laugh, coming from someone who promotes socialism here. No thank you!
But I hear NY City may become a good place for guys like you though. You’ll get all kinds of “free” stuff at the expense of others, of course. Have fun.
socialism = free education and healthcare for all and less billionaires. Yeah… sounds awful hahahahaha. idiot.
I sure do get tired of hearing this same malevolent trash every day from small time conservative men with noodle arms.
Week, scared Deltas
BASIC – learn to read, cretinous fool. I never said you were lying in that statement. I said you’re entire existence and view on the world is based in lies. You know, the lies you get caught spewing here every day.
There are a plenty
Trump needs to fork over the rest of the high speed rail money so we can ship people in to work here.
Great point, GT! The same ones screaming “you don’t have a right to live where you work!” are the ones who break down in tears about increased funds for any public transportation or the repairs on the 101 all for the purpose of IMPROVING COMMUTING!
“Don’t live here! Don’t you dare try to commute here either! Fuuu your families and the time you lose with them commuting to MY TOWN to WORK FOR ME! Now hurry up and bring me my salmon skin salad and craft beer!”
Some people just suck at being humans. We all know which ones.
This is correct. No one has the “right” to live wherever they want. They have the “right“ to live where they can afford.
HAMMONDS and BASIC – I know reading words is hard, but no one, not a single person ever, has ever said people have a right to live wherever they want.
You gals or guys or whatever you are need to stop ignoring the point here. It’s not about a right, it’s about how a city operates. I can’t keep explaining this.
Please, just go back through your elementary school notes and re-learn how to read sentences.
The MAGA mindsheep don’t care about the truth. They say things to make Great Leader feel good.
It’s not about rights, it’s about what is practical, and what kind of town and life you want. I’m a practical engineer – and I want people to be able to live where they work, from doctors and nurses to policemen and firemen and teachers to fry cooks and servers. This means we need housing for all, and if that requires a certain amount of subsidy to happen, so be it. It can be housing subsidies, housing linked to your employment, low-income and middle-income condos that are permanently price limited to be sold only to people in the same financial situation. It can be realistic, affordable, timely public transit.
MM – the problem with these people is that they live only to complain. They don’t want to help local workers live here and they don’t want their taxes going to make it easier for them to commute either. They have theirs and that’s all that matters.
Basic – You have embarrassed yourself. I know you try to play up to others here that are better read or educated on certain matters, but stating people can’t live where they choose is nonsensical. If that were the case one could say minorities dont have the right to live anywhere they choose. Now affordability of the location is an entirely different matter.
While the Constitution does not explicitly state a “right to live wherever we choose,” this freedom is protected through a combination of the right to travel and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. The right to travel and freedom to choose a residence are understood as fundamental liberties. Please read up on “rights.” Its pathetic to hear adults talk about “rights” when they have never studied the constitution.