August 2008 
There are 33 blog entries for August 2008.
Weekend Opens (8/30-8/31)
Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 4:53am. 99 Views, 0 Comments.
They ended Summer before anyone was ready.
Mainly that means this Labor Day weekend is a stay-cation kind of long weekend for a lot of MB locals – travel is behind us.
Some of the newer listings looking forward to a big Fall Selling Season are eager for your attention if you are around – especially 3 new offerings in the Sand.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools."
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
Saturday is only the second time we've seen 312 S. Dianthus (pictured) posted as open.
It's a 5br/5ba, 4475 sq. ft. home with ocean views. We most recently described this one in detail due to…
Mainly that means this Labor Day weekend is a stay-cation kind of long weekend for a lot of MB locals – travel is behind us.
Some of the newer listings looking forward to a big Fall Selling Season are eager for your attention if you are around – especially 3 new offerings in the Sand.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools."
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
Saturday is only the second time we've seen 312 S. Dianthus (pictured) posted as open.It's a 5br/5ba, 4475 sq. ft. home with ocean views. We most recently described this one in detail due to…
Not Holding Out
Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 5:32am. 125 Views, 0 Comments.
Builders with new homes on offer in this market know that it will take some combination of patience and price-chopping to make a deal. How to balance the two?
When they started their projects 18-24 months ago, they had to plan for the ultimate market value upon completion. But the market, particularly in the Tree Section, has slowed to a crawl, and a yearlong glut is only gradually being reduced. Asking prices, overall, have been adjusting downward.
In this environment, what was supposed to be an elite-level, high-priced home at 560 36th is now heading to the bargain bin. (Click highlighted address for details via Redfin.) The seller here is more focused on the price-chopping approach than on eternal patience.
The original ambitions for this new home were…
When they started their projects 18-24 months ago, they had to plan for the ultimate market value upon completion. But the market, particularly in the Tree Section, has slowed to a crawl, and a yearlong glut is only gradually being reduced. Asking prices, overall, have been adjusting downward.
In this environment, what was supposed to be an elite-level, high-priced home at 560 36th is now heading to the bargain bin. (Click highlighted address for details via Redfin.) The seller here is more focused on the price-chopping approach than on eternal patience.The original ambitions for this new home were…
A Hilly Hat Trick
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 4:23am. 109 Views, 0 Comments.
Most of a month passed with no sales in the Hill Section. But things changed quickly.The last sale (new escrow) for a while was 508 Larsson, a small, dated home on a large lot on the Sepulveda side. That sold on or about July 24, and then a modest drought began.
Last week, 913 8th went into escrow at $2.249m.
Tuesday, deals were posted on 3 more Hillies:
- 910 2nd at $2.895m;
- 914 2nd (pictured above) at $2.999m (it was Mrs. MBC's pick in mid-July); and
- 808 Highview at $4.850m.
So it looks like Hill Section buyers are back from vacation.
Last time we saw a fairly close cluster of 3 sales in the Hills was…
How Was Your Summer?
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 9:35pm. 123 Views, 0 Comments.
When you're young, you count the end of Summer as the start of school. That'd be tomorrow.When you're grown up and working for a living, Labor Day is the end of Summer. That's around the corner.
Either way, let's not fret. Instead, let's celebrate what a great Summer this was. Roughly 5 days hot enough to make you wish you had air conditioning. Warmer than usual ocean temps. Some great events at the beach.
Take a moment to vote in the (long) poll at the left. Check off everything you did this Summer at the beach. We're running the poll through the grown-up end of Summer – Monday night at 8pm.
We'll compile the results and let you know how MBC readers spent the season.
Oh, of course, it's not too late – if you see something on the list you haven't gotten to…
Poll Results: 700 35th
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 4:10am. 114 Views, 0 Comments.
It's a strange time of year for MBC pricing polls.
Most listings on which we have gotten reader input through our polls remain for sale months and months later. Spring and Summer came and went with most untouched. So we haven't got much info to use to judge the predictive powers of the group that's voting.
And then there's the phenomenon of dropouts. As we noted 2 weeks ago in "Recent Dropouts," it seems the most common activity in the local RE market at this moment is listings canceling.
Monday, that happened with 2 of the 3 listings we featured in our (apparently uninspiring) recent poll, "Who'll Be First to $6m?" (See the results story.) Both 114 N. Poinsettia and 923 1st are currently out of action, though 1st St. has a history of bogus re-lists. It…
Most listings on which we have gotten reader input through our polls remain for sale months and months later. Spring and Summer came and went with most untouched. So we haven't got much info to use to judge the predictive powers of the group that's voting.
And then there's the phenomenon of dropouts. As we noted 2 weeks ago in "Recent Dropouts," it seems the most common activity in the local RE market at this moment is listings canceling.
Monday, that happened with 2 of the 3 listings we featured in our (apparently uninspiring) recent poll, "Who'll Be First to $6m?" (See the results story.) Both 114 N. Poinsettia and 923 1st are currently out of action, though 1st St. has a history of bogus re-lists. It…
Homer's Shocking Fall
Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 5:04am. 120 Views, 0 Comments.
Here's an update to last month's story on the travails of 225 Homer. We have described the property as a:decent-sized 3br/3ba, 2300 sq. ft. home with substantial ocean views. Contemporary, clean, and nice, nestled in a very quiet part of the South End... When MBC took note of this one finally making a deal in mid-July, after 100+ DOM, we only thought we were astonished by its drop from a start price of $2.3m. (See "Poor Homer.")
Now that the closed sale price has posted, we're even more amazed. It went for $1.700m, a shocking cut of $600k/-26% from the initial offering price.
The shock is magnified because a significantly smaller, older and crustier home just a few doors down recently went for more money, making a deal quickly in March – just 7 DOM. The…
Open Forum (8/25-9/2)
Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 5:01am. 125 Views, 0 Comments.
Seems like everyone wants to come down to the MB pier.This weekend, they literally came by the busload – as part of an area nonprofit's "Day at the Beach" for kids who don't often see one.
Buses? That's easy.
How about making your way to the pier over the course of 5-7 hours, on your own power, across 32 miles of ocean?
That's what 95 elite paddleboarders set off to do from Catalina Island on Sunday morning at 6 a.m. (Pic taken from paddleboards.com.) The "Catalina Classic" has a storied history (back to the 1920s and 30s) and is classified as a "marathon" among paddleboard races. Great stuff, but, guys, there are boats running all day, every day!
Finally, don't shoot the messenger, but Summer's over. School starts Tuesday & Wednesday.
As always, please use the…
Weekend Opens (8/23-8/24)
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 at 4:11am. 95 Views, 0 Comments.
No one is rushing to push new listings out the door these days, with Labor Day around the corner. Inventory is scaling down a bit, with more and more quitters and few new listings.
But there's plenty to see this weekend. We're revisiting a few listings that we have suggested in the past and which remain available.
If you visit one of our recommended listings, be sure to tell the agent that MBC sent you.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools."
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
218 N. Dianthus began near $7m (at $6.75m) in March, and has now dwindled below $6m (to $5.995m). There's a lot…
But there's plenty to see this weekend. We're revisiting a few listings that we have suggested in the past and which remain available.
If you visit one of our recommended listings, be sure to tell the agent that MBC sent you.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the link in the right-hand column under "Prop. Search Tools."
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
218 N. Dianthus began near $7m (at $6.75m) in March, and has now dwindled below $6m (to $5.995m). There's a lot…
It Remains Unpredictable
Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 4:34am. 108 Views, 0 Comments.
Fully 7 months ago, when first we reviewed 923 1st in the Hill Section, the title on MBC's story was "Unpredictable."The point then was that the home itself was full of surprises. It's completely unlike any layout we've seen around town, though perhaps in line with homes on bluffs in Malibu or in the Hollywood hills.
It turns out, the price on this one has been a moving target as well, with cuts and bumps and cuts and bumps along the way:
- Jan. 9: $7.998m
- March 26: $7.595m (-$403k)
- April 28: $7.375m (-$220k)
- May 6: $7.595m (+$220k)
- May 29: $7.350m (-$245k)
- July 31: $7.150m (-$200k)
- Aug. 15: $7.350m (+$200k)
Once, the cut lasted less than 10 days, while the more recent…
MB Market Update for 8/15/08
Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 6:06am. 120 Views, 0 Comments.
The new MB Market Update spreadsheets are available by clicking here, or at any time by using the link in the upper-right corner of the front page, under MB Market Info & Updates.
The current update covers activity in the first half of August.
We had 112 active SFRs in our subject region west of Sepulveda as of Aug. 15, down 4 from the end of July. This ends a recent Summertime run of record highs in inventory reported by MBC (records, that is, in the year-plus that we've published our public market tracking). A significant reason – sellers are pulling out rather than adjust their prices (see "Recent Dropouts").
We saw the same number of cancellations (7) as we saw sales (new escrows) in this period. The full tally – 14 listings came out of inventory, 9 new…
The current update covers activity in the first half of August.
We had 112 active SFRs in our subject region west of Sepulveda as of Aug. 15, down 4 from the end of July. This ends a recent Summertime run of record highs in inventory reported by MBC (records, that is, in the year-plus that we've published our public market tracking). A significant reason – sellers are pulling out rather than adjust their prices (see "Recent Dropouts").
We saw the same number of cancellations (7) as we saw sales (new escrows) in this period. The full tally – 14 listings came out of inventory, 9 new…
