September 2008 
There are 28 blog entries for September 2008.
Open Forum (9/29-10/5)
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 5:23am. 118 Views, 0 Comments.
It's a great time to be distracted.
Financial system melting down? Not to worry:
204 19th (pictured) is a walkstreet home near downtown, built in 2006 and pretty much maxed out (4br/4ba, 4260 sq. ft.). Purchased new in Aug. 2006 by Dodgers starting pitcher Derek Lowe (noted by Realestalker in this story) for $5.0m. Now offered for $5.7m.
Word to the wise: Let's try to keep Mr. Lowe happy right…
Financial system melting down? Not to worry:
- The Fall TV season has launched with gusto!
- The presidential campaign is heating up. Just 5 weeks to go! Palin vs. Biden on Thursday!
- Baseball playoffs, NFL, college football!
204 19th (pictured) is a walkstreet home near downtown, built in 2006 and pretty much maxed out (4br/4ba, 4260 sq. ft.). Purchased new in Aug. 2006 by Dodgers starting pitcher Derek Lowe (noted by Realestalker in this story) for $5.0m. Now offered for $5.7m.Word to the wise: Let's try to keep Mr. Lowe happy right…
Goodbye to An Old Friend
Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 6:03pm. 94 Views, 0 Comments.
When this blog was just a couple of weeks old, we made the acquaintance of 4419 Highland.It's a new home in possibly the worst location west of Sepulveda – at 45th/Highland, across from the gas station, right on top of the busiest street in town other than Hwy. 1. We took to calling the home "The Gateway to Manhattan Beach," recognizing that it's the first (or last) home commuters see at the northwest edge of town.
After all this time, the home has not sold. We've confirmed that it is now rented out; the last posted rental price was $5,800/mo. (One informant sent a photo of a parked U-haul unloading as folks moved in.) Curiously, the listing remains active at this writing, with DOM just days short of 500 by our count.
When first we wrote about the Gateway…
4th Qtr. Often Quietest
Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 5:21am. 192 Views, 0 Comments.
Football and basketball feature exciting fourth quarters.
Real estate sales – not so much.
In Manhattan Beach over the past 20 years, the last 3 months of the year have seen fewer sales recorded than any other quarter. (To be fair, though, based on total sales over 20 years, the 4th is nearly tied with the 1st quarter.)
According to figures from Dataquick, processed by MBC, the percentage of all sales recorded in a given year that were recorded in the 4th quarter averaged 22%.
In an even distribution, of course, 25% of all sales would close in each quarter. Both the 1st and 4th quarters averaged 22% over this period.
In the past few years, as our graph here shows (click to enlarge), the 4th has been even more of an afterthought. From 2004-2007, the number of…
Real estate sales – not so much.
In Manhattan Beach over the past 20 years, the last 3 months of the year have seen fewer sales recorded than any other quarter. (To be fair, though, based on total sales over 20 years, the 4th is nearly tied with the 1st quarter.)
According to figures from Dataquick, processed by MBC, the percentage of all sales recorded in a given year that were recorded in the 4th quarter averaged 22%.
In an even distribution, of course, 25% of all sales would close in each quarter. Both the 1st and 4th quarters averaged 22% over this period.
In the past few years, as our graph here shows (click to enlarge), the 4th has been even more of an afterthought. From 2004-2007, the number of…Weekend Opens (9/27-9/28)
Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 3:47am. 101 Views, 0 Comments.
Options are growing each week.
We have a new high-end listing on a west-of-Highland walkstreet and two new offerings right near downtown.
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."
We're asking MBC readers who visit these homes to also report back. Tell us what you see, what you like, what you don't like, what you'd change if you owned a particular home, and so on. Use the comments here to discuss the homes we've highlighted.
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
As we noted the other day in "Down Hill," 808 Highview (pictured) is one of a few recent Hill Section listings to go into escrow and…
We have a new high-end listing on a west-of-Highland walkstreet and two new offerings right near downtown.
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."
We're asking MBC readers who visit these homes to also report back. Tell us what you see, what you like, what you don't like, what you'd change if you owned a particular home, and so on. Use the comments here to discuss the homes we've highlighted.
As always, click any highlighted address below for more pics & details via Redfin.
Hill Section
As we noted the other day in "Down Hill," 808 Highview (pictured) is one of a few recent Hill Section listings to go into escrow and…Down Hill
Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 3:26am. 190 Views, 0 Comments.
News of the Hill Section's recovery from a late-Summer slump may have been exaggerated.
One month ago, to the day, MBC featured 4 Hill Section homes that had all gone into escrow within days of each other. (See "A Hilly Hat Trick.")
Now, 3 of those 4 are back on the market after failed escrows:
Otherwise, it's been the sound of crickets…
One month ago, to the day, MBC featured 4 Hill Section homes that had all gone into escrow within days of each other. (See "A Hilly Hat Trick.")
Now, 3 of those 4 are back on the market after failed escrows:
- 910 2nd (pictured, 5br/4ba, 3400 sq. ft.) is back at $2.895m;
- 913 8th (4br/3ba, 2925 sq. ft.) is back at $2.249m; and
- 808 Highview (5br/5ba, 4125 sq. ft) is back at $4.850m.
Otherwise, it's been the sound of crickets…
MB Market Update for 9/15/08
Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 3:34am. 106 Views, 0 Comments.
We hope you'll bear with us as we unveil the somewhat delayed MB Market Update spreadsheets for 9/15/08. They are now available for download by clicking here or, any time, by using the link at the upper-right corner of the front page.
Inventory of SFRs west of Sepulveda stood at 110 on Sept. 15, inching back near 116, the highest figure MBC has recorded in 18 months of public market tracking.
In the first half of the month, we saw 16 new listings, 10 sales (new escrows) and 3 cancellations. (We are actually aware that 2 of the 3 cancellations came back as re-lists after Sept. 15, but the spreadsheets show them dropping out of action.)
The most noteworthy trend in this update was probably the re-pricing of several listings in the Tree Section in the $2m+…
Inventory of SFRs west of Sepulveda stood at 110 on Sept. 15, inching back near 116, the highest figure MBC has recorded in 18 months of public market tracking.
In the first half of the month, we saw 16 new listings, 10 sales (new escrows) and 3 cancellations. (We are actually aware that 2 of the 3 cancellations came back as re-lists after Sept. 15, but the spreadsheets show them dropping out of action.)
The most noteworthy trend in this update was probably the re-pricing of several listings in the Tree Section in the $2m+…
Open Forum (9/22-9/28)
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 5:50am. 128 Views, 0 Comments.
It could be a coincidence, but this is the week that a couple of listings took big hits.
This being the Open Forum kickoff, your blog author gets license to mention a Hermosa listing.
First, an MB Hillie: 1015 Boundary Pl. first went on public offer in May. This 3br/3ba, 2400 sq. ft. home on an alley started two dimes short of $2.5m ($2.480m).
The home was the putative "winner" of an MBC poll comparing 3 listings, entitled "Who's Most Delusional?" The listing cleaned up, garnering 52% of the vote.
There were no takers. After 4 months, Boundary quit. Monday, it returned at $1.759m. That's a sudden cut of $721k/-29%. We're going to take that as a sign that someone finally told the sellers they were delusional.
Next, an MB-adjacent Hermosa premium property: 3410…
This being the Open Forum kickoff, your blog author gets license to mention a Hermosa listing.
First, an MB Hillie: 1015 Boundary Pl. first went on public offer in May. This 3br/3ba, 2400 sq. ft. home on an alley started two dimes short of $2.5m ($2.480m).The home was the putative "winner" of an MBC poll comparing 3 listings, entitled "Who's Most Delusional?" The listing cleaned up, garnering 52% of the vote.
There were no takers. After 4 months, Boundary quit. Monday, it returned at $1.759m. That's a sudden cut of $721k/-29%. We're going to take that as a sign that someone finally told the sellers they were delusional.
Next, an MB-adjacent Hermosa premium property: 3410…We Won't Forget
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 3:30am. 104 Views, 0 Comments.
The cascade of big, bigger and then even bigger financial market news over the past month has been shocking and will be impossible to forget.We'll remember that this was the time when the housing bubble's burst started to lay waste to our financial system.
For 2 years or so, the lenders who pushed the envelope to expand credit beyond all reasonable bounds have been teetering and falling. (See the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter.)
More recently, the punishment started to rain on firms that midwifed the credit bubble behind the housing bubble. Suddenly, those "innovations" that enabled easy credit, and big profits for Wall Street paper-pushers, don't look so smart.
To make a spectacularly complex story simple, new ways of packaging mortgages wound up hiding…
Weekend Opens (9/20-9/21)
Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 4:01am. 123 Views, 0 Comments.
One glance at this week's Beach Reporter list of opens, and we think you'll agree: Now the inventory is really growing. At least what's showing is growing.
There's plenty of new stuff in the Hills and Trees, but a curious dearth of new opens in the Sand Section. Could it be AVP syndrome?
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.
We're asking MBC readers who visit these homes to also report back. Tell us what you see, what you like, what you don't like, what you'd change if you owned a particular home, and so on. Use the comments here to discuss the homes we've…
There's plenty of new stuff in the Hills and Trees, but a curious dearth of new opens in the Sand Section. Could it be AVP syndrome?
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.
We're asking MBC readers who visit these homes to also report back. Tell us what you see, what you like, what you don't like, what you'd change if you owned a particular home, and so on. Use the comments here to discuss the homes we've…
A Couple Shockers
Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 5:29am. 164 Views, 0 Comments.
This week, a couple of sales closed (good news!) with sale prices that will surprise to the downside.
Down at the much-discussed flat South End walkstreets (see "Quiet Walkstreets"), the one listing to make a deal since May was 500 7th (pictured).
It was listed as a 4br/4ba, 3100 sq. ft. home, though one of the "bedrooms" was fishy – currently a living space off the kitchen and dining room, not easy to see as a BR.
The listing began at $3.195m on June 3. Almost instantly, there was a deal – verbal, not formal. And why not? The 7th St. walkstreet is one of MBC's "Great Streets."
Alas, that deal did not happen. After a couple months, someone else came along.
And you might say they got a steal: the sale closed for $2.650m this week. That's a substantial chop of…
Down at the much-discussed flat South End walkstreets (see "Quiet Walkstreets"), the one listing to make a deal since May was 500 7th (pictured).It was listed as a 4br/4ba, 3100 sq. ft. home, though one of the "bedrooms" was fishy – currently a living space off the kitchen and dining room, not easy to see as a BR.
The listing began at $3.195m on June 3. Almost instantly, there was a deal – verbal, not formal. And why not? The 7th St. walkstreet is one of MBC's "Great Streets."
Alas, that deal did not happen. After a couple months, someone else came along.
And you might say they got a steal: the sale closed for $2.650m this week. That's a substantial chop of…
