Quickies in the Trees

There's a flipside to the burgeoning inventory west of Sepulveda – some quick sales this year, too.

Some are quite impressive.

For a while everyone was talking about the quick sale at 1413 Pine, priced below $1.4m.

Next came 3113 Laurel, a resale of a newer home priced over $2m.

Most recently, it's 2603 Palm, a $3m listing, which now has a deal. (Pictured; see our mid-January MB Market Update for a writeup on Palm.)

All 3 listings had logged 3 or fewer weeks on the market – all of those DOM coming pre-Super-Bowl. Pine ran less than one week, and Laurel ran just about 2 weeks.

In addition, 1609 Oak made a deal at about the 3 week mark. Recently, some longer-term listings, 3004 Oak and 2204 Ardmore, also made deals. (Click any highlighted address for pics & details via Redfin.)

There were only 3 sales in the Hill & Sand sections combined in January, and just one more sale of an SFR in either region since then (332 20th in the Sand).

But the Trees are busy with both new listings and sales. Those coming out in the days to come are sure hoping they can be like the fresh listings that have come before – quick and done.

Re-Repriced on 1st

It turns out that was a short-term offer at 517 1st.

The price posted Friday of $1.599m got bumped up Sunday to $1.699m. (Graphic pulled from Redfin's listing of the property.)

Change of heart?

Data-entry error?

Maybe a declaration of "mission accomplished" in bringing new attention to a stale listing?

Whatever the case, the new price makes the concluding line of MBC's previous story ("Rebuilt, Repriced on 1st") completely incorrect.

We had said that you could now get 517 1st for less than a specific older, less desirable home up the street that sold in 2008.

Now you can't.

Well, maybe.

Rebuilt, Repriced on 1st

Last year a very tasteful, custom Spanish remodel was completed at 517 1st. By October, it was on public offer at $1.899m.

With a bold, single cut Friday, it's at $1.599m, and looking very different as a result.

An essentially new, moderately sized (4br/2ba, 2550 sq. ft.) home in the South End, with a kid-friendly bonus of being right near Robinson School's athletic fields, for $1.6m?

In context, that looks like a serious deal.

We would also note that the current owners bought 537 1st for $1.365m in July 2004, some years before undertaking the major rebuild. After costs of sale at $1.599m, it seems unlikely they'll recoup their costs of ownership and remodeling. 

Look just up the block for a surprising contrast:

437 1st (4br/3ba, 2600 sq. ft.) sold for $1.610m in June 2008. Though that mid-80s home was remodeled, MBC called it "jumbled" and "quirky." The home featured a peculiar layout and mostly standard-issue materials.

The main advantage 437 has over 517 is that the garage is accessed by the alley, whereas at 517 1st, the garage faces 1st St.  Both homes share the location liability of 1st as a busy neighborhood through street.

In MBC's first mention of 517 1st last year, we pointed to the sale at 437 1st and said: "Now, a year later, you can get a home that's mostly new for not too much more."

Now you can get it for less.

Super Flood?

It's already time for another update on inventory west of Sepulveda.

In the first 4 days of February, there have been 10 new SFR listings (just as of this writing), bringing inventory quickly over 80. (If you regularly track activity with Redfin's MB page, you've seen this daily burst yourself.)

These include:

• 3 new listings in the Hill Section;
• 3 in the Sand; and
• 4 in the Trees.

That, again, is over 4 days.

That informal rule about how inventory tends to climb at around the time of the Super Bowl is starting to look about right. In fact, this is starting to look like a super flood.


It's also news that only one of this week's new listings could be said to be returning from a holiday-season break (1018 2nd, which has been off since early October and has switched agents). Pausing on the sidelines right now are some number of recent listings poised to come back soon, and another group of would-be sellers who have been advised to wait till just a bit later this month.

A few samples of the new offerings:

• 505 N. Dianthus (5br/4ba, 4650 sq. ft.) (pictured), a glorious, newer (2002) home with city views to the north. It's also vacant and offered for $2.999m, or +$874k/+41% over its April 2003 acquisition price.

• 3104 Poinsettia, a major fixer/teardown adjacent to one of the very sweetest blocks in the Trees north of Valley. (See "The Street Where Listings Don't Last," which focuses on the section of 31st from Valley to 31st.) It's offered at $1.050m, which they would have called cheap a few years ago. Just a few doors down, 3009 Poinsettia went as a lot sale for $1.190m in Aug. 2008.

• 2708 Pacific (5br/4ba, 3400 sq. ft.), an early-90s home that has aged well thanks to updates, asking $1.849m.

• 3104 Maple (5br/4ba, 3350 sq. ft.), a newer (2006) build bought just 2 1/2 years ago in June 2007 at $2.490m, now offered back to the public at $2.349m. (No pics in the listing as of this writing.)

These new listings are adding to a burst of 24 new listings last month. For the whole month of January, inventory grew in each region by:

• 8 in the Hills;
• 3 in the Sand; and
• 13 in the Trees.

So you see a real swell building in the 'burbs. We haven't yet written up the Tree Section activity for the second half of January, but you can use these links to check out the Actives Under $1.5m for that period, Actives Above $1.5m and Solds. (New listings are prominent in green.)

No doubt, we ended 2009 with a tentative balance taking shape. Inventory began the year very high, but got worked off over the months.

Here in 2010, we've seen some impact of what they call "pent-up demand" from some quick sales early in the year. But that sense of balance could be upset if this pace continues after the Saints go marching in.

More Strand Options

Most of us mere mortals must content ourselves with enjoying The Strand on an occasional jog or dog-walk. To actually hang one's hat in one of those beachfront abodes – that means you're playing at a high level, and maybe winning more often than you're losing. Bravo.

So The Strand represents a crazy subset of MB real estate, but an increasingly interesting subset to track, as we see more and more activity there.

As we noted in a year-end wrapup (see "Strand Sales of 2009"), for most of MBC's first 2 years (2007-08), few Strand homes changed hands.

Last year, 6 Strand properties sold.

Now there are 5 more on offer. (See this page Sand Section actives from the current MB Market Update for the first 3.) The 2 newest:

1600 The Strand (3br/5ba, 5225 sq. ft.) is a high-style 80s modern. Think steel, glass and leather.

The listing touts the architect's rep and labels the home "Grandieur Embodied." The rooftop pool is one of the rare, not-to-be-duplicated extras.

No doubt this is a unique property, a signature step on The Strand.

The start price, $13.5m, exceeds by nearly $2m the highest price paid for a Strand home last year: 1800 The Strand, which went for $11.65m. Though they have similar square footage and both are on north-side corner lots, 1800 was newer (2000 build) and had more beds & baths (5/7), making it a bit more family- and guest-friendly.

908 The Strand is most likely a lot sale. (The two structures there now are livable but not the main attraction.)

The midblock lot is close to downtown and, well, on The Strand. So what's the dirt worth?

As we noted in "Strand Sales of 2009," there were 2 adjoining lots further south at 204 & 208 The Strand that sold for a combined $12.8m ($6.1m for 204 and $6.7m for 208).

A downtown location like this, versus the deep south, calls for some kind of discount, so 908 The Strand starts well below the "lesser" of those 2 southern lots, at $5.595m.

That may not be far off. Just for reference, we'll point further north, where 3216 The Strand sold for $4.7m last year and 3404 The Strand sold for $5.350m; the latter of those 2 had a structure worth keeping and improving.

It's the first week of February. Think more Strand options will unfurl this year? Yep, us too.