About / Methodology / Disclosures
SBRSO — Santa Barbara Rent Stabilization Observatory
About the project
SBRSO — the Santa Barbara Rent Stabilization Observatory — is an independent research project documenting the effects of Santa Barbara's rent stabilization policies on the city's multi-family housing market: the temporary rent-increase moratorium (Ordinance 2026-6206, adopted January 27, 2026 and effective February 26, 2026) and the proposed permanent rent stabilization ordinance (SBMC Chapter 26.90, public review draft released June 10, 2026; program operative January 1, 2027 if adopted on schedule).
The name is deliberate. This is an observatory: it observes and documents the ordinance and its consequences. It is not the City of Santa Barbara's official ordinance page, and it should never be mistaken for one.
We publish data, analysis, and primary-source documentation: a continuously updated index of landlord operating costs against the ordinance's rent cap; a verbatim, timestamped record of what was said at the council dais; long-form analysis that engages the strongest arguments for rent stabilization before disputing them; and plain-language explanations of the ordinance's own mechanisms, including the fair-return petition. Our aim is to be the canonical reference on this topic — the source reporters, council members, owners, tenant advocates, and academics cite because the data holds up.
We hold a position, and we state it openly: we believe Santa Barbara's rent burden is real and substantial, and that the ordinance's mechanism — capping revenue growth on a fixed set of older buildings below inflation — is the wrong tool for it. Readers should judge that thesis by the quality of the evidence we publish, all of which is sourced, downloadable, and open to challenge.
About the team
SBRSO is researched and maintained by the Golis Team at Radius Commercial Real Estate, a Santa Barbara commercial brokerage founded in 2002, with offices at 226 E. De La Guerra St, Suite 100, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. The team has represented Santa Barbara multi-family owners for decades, and it built the datasets underlying this site — the cost series, the transaction comparables, and the council record — from public sources and its own transaction records.
Questions about the data, the methodology, or a specific building can be sent to GolisTeam@radiusgroup.com.
Sponsorship disclosure
The following disclosure appears on every page footer of this site:
SBRSO — the Santa Barbara Rent Stabilization Observatory — is an independent research project funded and powered by Radius Commercial Real Estate. Radius is a commercial real estate brokerage that represents owners of multifamily property in the Santa Barbara area, including property covered by the ordinances analyzed on this site. This relationship is disclosed here and on every page footer. Radius's commercial interest does not alter the data presented: our methodology, sources, and corrections policy are public, and the underlying data is downloadable.
And on editorial independence:
The analysis and editorial judgments on this site are those of its authors, not of Radius Commercial Real Estate's brokerage business. No content on this site is directed by, reviewed for approval by, or conditioned on the interests of any Radius client or transaction. Where the site's findings would be inconvenient to its sponsor, they are published anyway; our credibility depends on it.
This is the same sponsorship model used by Zillow Research, Redfin Research, and Apartment List Research: sponsor-funded, methodologically rigorous, and editorially distinct from the sponsor's sales content.
Methodology
The cost index ("The Squeeze")
Our signature chart compares three series, each indexed to 100 at 2016, so a decade of divergence reads left to right; December 16, 2025 — the date the ordinance's base rent was set — is marked on the timeline:
- California CPI — the California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, as published by the Department of Industrial Relations. This is the ordinance's own index: the annual general adjustment under §26.90.040 is 60% of the April-to-April change in this series, rounded to the nearest 0.25%, capped at 3%, floored at 0%.
- The allowable-rent line — the compounded path of the maximum rent the ordinance permits: 0% during the moratorium period, then the annual general adjustment thereafter, with no banking of unused increases.
- The Santa Barbara landlord cost basket — a weighted composite of eight cost series a pre-1995 Santa Barbara multi-family owner actually pays:
| Component | Source | Weight* |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax | SB County Assessor; Prop 13 baseline +2%/yr | 30% |
| Insurance premiums | CA Dept. of Insurance rate filings; industry supplements | 15% |
| Water / sewer | City of Santa Barbara Public Works rate schedules | 12% |
| Maintenance labor | BLS Employment Cost Index, construction trades, Pacific | 12% |
| Management | Prevailing third-party management fee benchmarks | 10% |
| Maintenance materials | BLS Producer Price Index, construction materials | 8% |
| Electricity | SCE tariff filings (CPUC) | 4% |
| Natural gas | SoCalGas tariff filings (CPUC) | 3% |
| Other operating costs | Composite (licenses, pest, landscaping, misc.) | 6% |
* Weights are stated so readers can recompute the composite themselves. Any revision to the weights, and the reasoning behind it, will be recorded here and in the downloadable data.
Each component series is normalized to the common annual 2016 = 100 format; the composite is the weighted sum. Every chart carries a source line and last-updated date, and the underlying series are downloadable as CSV.
Quote verification (The Council Record)
Every quote on this site is transcribed verbatim from official Santa Barbara City Council meeting video, with the speaker's name and role, the meeting date, a timestamp, and a deep link to the moment in the official recording. Quotes are never edited or paraphrased; transcription artifacts are preserved rather than cleaned up. Attributions are re-verified against the video in periodic audits, and any correction is recorded in the dataset itself with an audit note. All editorial commentary lives in a visually separate "Analytical Note," never inside the quote.
Market data (comps and cap rates)
Transaction comparables and capitalization-rate series are drawn from Radius Commercial Real Estate's proprietary Santa Barbara multi-family transaction data, supplemented by MLS records. This data is proprietary — that is part of what the sponsorship funds — and we disclose its provenance wherever it appears. Where a figure depends on proprietary data, we state the sample basis (period, property type, geography) so readers can weigh it.
General standards
The analyses on this site are prepared from public data sources and Radius Commercial Real Estate's proprietary market data, using the methods described on our Methodology page. All underlying data series are available for download, and every figure links to its sources. Estimates and projections reflect stated assumptions; actual outcomes will differ. Errors brought to our attention are corrected under our Corrections Policy.
Legal language on this site is subject to ongoing review by counsel; substantive corrections follow our corrections policy.
Where estimates require assumptions, we choose conservative ones and label them. Projections are presented as "at least / under conservative assumptions," with the assumptions listed.
Editorial standards
- Sourcing. Every numerical claim links to its source. Every quote is verbatim and timestamped.
- Fairness. We critique policy positions, not people. Council members are referred to by their proper titles. Tenant advocates' arguments are represented in their strongest form before being addressed — our long-form analysis begins by making the case for rent stabilization honestly.
- Disclosure. The Radius sponsorship is disclosed on every page footer, on this page, and at the top of any content that touches Radius's commercial interests.
- Transparency. Every chart links to this methodology page; underlying data is downloadable as CSV; methodology is audited quarterly.
Corrections policy {#corrections}
We correct errors promptly and visibly. When we get something wrong, the correction preserves the record: the original text is struck through, the corrected text follows, and a dated correction note explains what changed and why. We do not silently edit published claims. Data revisions (e.g., a source agency restating a series) are noted on the affected chart with the revision date.
To report an error, use the contact below. Corrections are reviewed within five business days.
Contact
- Corrections and tips: use the on-site contact form, or email GolisTeam@radiusgroup.com. Submissions go to the project team.
- Press and interview inquiries: see the Press page for summaries, embeddable charts, and interview availability.
- Owners with questions about their building: see The Petition Pathway and use the contact form there.
SBRSO — Santa Barbara Rent Stabilization Observatory, sbrso.com. Independent research, powered by Radius Commercial Real Estate.