December 2008 
There are 25 blog entries for December 2008.
High/Low Prices for 2008
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 3:48am. 129 Views, 0 Comments.
It's almost time to say goodbye to 2008.
As the year heads to the rear-view mirror, MBC offers the first of a few year-end roundups – this one covering the highest and lowest prices paid in MB west of Sepulveda this year. (Click any picture to expand.)
In case we forget to say it later: Happy new year to all MBC readers and their families!
Hill Section
Highest Price: 900 Pacific: $9.85m. This home is a quintessential Hill Section estate – absolutely vast (6br/7ba, 10,500 sq. ft.), luxurious and boasting one of the best hilltop, ocean-view locations in the Hills. (Pacific in the Hills is one of MBC's "Great Streets.")
900 Pacific was just about a year old when it was put up on public offer in June at $10.9m. The sale happened quickly and closed in mid-August.
…
As the year heads to the rear-view mirror, MBC offers the first of a few year-end roundups – this one covering the highest and lowest prices paid in MB west of Sepulveda this year. (Click any picture to expand.)
In case we forget to say it later: Happy new year to all MBC readers and their families!
Hill Section
Highest Price: 900 Pacific: $9.85m. This home is a quintessential Hill Section estate – absolutely vast (6br/7ba, 10,500 sq. ft.), luxurious and boasting one of the best hilltop, ocean-view locations in the Hills. (Pacific in the Hills is one of MBC's "Great Streets.")900 Pacific was just about a year old when it was put up on public offer in June at $10.9m. The sale happened quickly and closed in mid-August.
…
Finally, Finally – A Newbie Sells in the Hills
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 4:08am. 138 Views, 0 Comments.
A Christmastime deal in the Hill Section marks just the second purchase of a new home in the Hills this year.930 John (the listing can still be viewed while in "backup offer" status) is a large (5br/6ba, 5400 sq. ft.) new home near downtown with city views. It started up in April at $4.995m and cut, over time, to $3.999m.
It'll be some time till we get the final price, but you might imagine the buyers took a bit more off the top. That would put the total cuts over $1m, and that's increasingly common in the Hills.
The only other purely new home purchased this year off the MLS was 911 Duncan (5br/6ba, 3700 sq. ft.), which closed in February at $3.190m (-$580k/-15% from start). (See "Such a Deal on Duncan.") Another new home closed in the first half of January,…
Trends in the Trees
Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 2:33am. 92 Views, 0 Comments.
We took note just the other day of a sale at 3307 Poinsettia, a new Tree Section home of a somewhat standard size (5br/5ba, 3250 sq. ft.) that closed for $2.1m. (See "A Twin Comes In.")
Its twin, 3309 Poinsettia, is now at $2.195m, and might be expected to go in $2.0-$2.1m territory when and if a buyer is found.
The bigger issue is what might be going on with Tree Section new-construction prices.
New homes in the Trees are clearly coming down in price, in adjustments that can take time and can ultimately be quite dramatic. Over the past 6 months, we have seen sales close on 5 other newbies in the Tree Section of comparable size on standard lots.
They started in the range of $2.3m-$2.75m, but eventually clustered near $2.1m when they sold:
Its twin, 3309 Poinsettia, is now at $2.195m, and might be expected to go in $2.0-$2.1m territory when and if a buyer is found.
The bigger issue is what might be going on with Tree Section new-construction prices.
New homes in the Trees are clearly coming down in price, in adjustments that can take time and can ultimately be quite dramatic. Over the past 6 months, we have seen sales close on 5 other newbies in the Tree Section of comparable size on standard lots.
They started in the range of $2.3m-$2.75m, but eventually clustered near $2.1m when they sold:
1821 Walnut
A Twin Comes In
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 at 5:15pm. 105 Views, 0 Comments.
The first of the Twins in the Trees to make a deal, 3307 Poinsettia has now closed at $2.1m.It took 8 months on market and a price concession of $699k (-25%).
It was apparent when both 3307 and 3309 Poinsettia (click for more pics & details) hit the market in early 2008 that the $2.795m start prices were overly ambitious. (These are 2 new homes developed on the same (split) lot by the same developer with the same layout, but different styles – hence their twinness.)
MBC called a poll 9 months ago (see "Pricing Poll: Twins in the Trees") and found that 70% of readers generally believed the properties were overpriced, but would probably sell for $2.2m or more. (See "Poll Results: Twins in the Trees.") Such optimism was obviously not well-founded. The 27% who…
Sales Activity for Nov./Dec.
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 3:19am. 123 Views, 0 Comments.
Regular readers know that we typically publish MB Market Updates twice monthly. Our November sheets were posted, as usual, but only one story about inventory referenced them.
We’re now into December and our 12/15/08 update is now available for download here, or by using the link in the upper-right corner of the front page at any time. We have kept the 11/30/08 update posted as well, for reference.
After a quick inventory update, we’ll look at sales activity for November and the first half of December. A little further analysis of the submarkets west of Sepulveda will follow late this week.
First things first: a quick inventory correction. Our final count for Dec. 15 was 121, not the 123 we reported previously. This was still 2 higher than the end-November…
We’re now into December and our 12/15/08 update is now available for download here, or by using the link in the upper-right corner of the front page at any time. We have kept the 11/30/08 update posted as well, for reference.
After a quick inventory update, we’ll look at sales activity for November and the first half of December. A little further analysis of the submarkets west of Sepulveda will follow late this week.
First things first: a quick inventory correction. Our final count for Dec. 15 was 121, not the 123 we reported previously. This was still 2 higher than the end-November…
Sunday Opens (12/21)
Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 9:50pm. 118 Views, 0 Comments.
This time of year there are two kinds of people you might see at open houses: bargain-hunters trolling for deals, and tourists all ga-ga over these pricey Manhattan Beach homes and their high-end amenities.
We dedicate this edition of "Weekend Opens" to the tourists – your out-of-town guests, perhaps, who you might want to first send over to the computer (to consume a little MBC, of course) and then send out for part of the afternoon. We'll give them something to do while you watch vital football games, or head out to another holiday party.
If you (or your guests) happens to visit one of our recommended listings, be sure to tell the agent there that MBC sent you.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the…
We dedicate this edition of "Weekend Opens" to the tourists – your out-of-town guests, perhaps, who you might want to first send over to the computer (to consume a little MBC, of course) and then send out for part of the afternoon. We'll give them something to do while you watch vital football games, or head out to another holiday party.
If you (or your guests) happens to visit one of our recommended listings, be sure to tell the agent there that MBC sent you.
Click here for the complete list of opens published in the Beach Reporter, or at any time use the…
The Trouble with Shorties
Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 3:50am. 117 Views, 0 Comments.
If you're looking for bargains in MB, foreclosures are all but off the table.
Compare MB to the rest of the Southland. According to DataQuick:
"[F]oreclosure resales" ranged from 44.1 percent of November existing home sales in Los Angeles County to 70.4 percent in Riverside County. In Orange County foreclosure resales were 44.2 percent of sales; in San Diego 52.1 percent; San Bernardino 67.8 percent and in Ventura County 47.8 percent. That's a torrent, and we have barely a trickle at this point in MB.
The deals – such as they are – among troubled properties are short sales. Of those, we have a few.
(Short sales require a lender to accept less than the full balance on a loan from the homeowner to transfer the property, but they expect to take less of a hit…
Compare MB to the rest of the Southland. According to DataQuick:
"[F]oreclosure resales" ranged from 44.1 percent of November existing home sales in Los Angeles County to 70.4 percent in Riverside County. In Orange County foreclosure resales were 44.2 percent of sales; in San Diego 52.1 percent; San Bernardino 67.8 percent and in Ventura County 47.8 percent. That's a torrent, and we have barely a trickle at this point in MB.
The deals – such as they are – among troubled properties are short sales. Of those, we have a few.
(Short sales require a lender to accept less than the full balance on a loan from the homeowner to transfer the property, but they expect to take less of a hit…
Open Forum (12/18-12/31)
Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 7:13am. 165 Views, 0 Comments.
Everyone's trying to get into shape, and often falling behind.Why should Santa be an exception? (Or HBO's "Tim," for that matter?)
On occasion of the upcoming holiday, we just had to share this pic from a little marketing blog. The point of the post there being that "fat Santa" is a bad role model and – more critically – outdated and "a brand in trouble." Obesity isn't cool. It can't be good for Santa, either:
[I]f Santa eats just one cookie for every child he delivers a gift to in the U.S.A., he will gain 3.7 million pounds in just one night! Bad Santa. Maybe this year, we'll call off the toys-and-cookies deal while you train for a marathon. All we want is lower and lower mortgage rates – and jobs. Not necessarily in that order.
…
Holiday Discount: $1.325m
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 5:10pm. 89 Views, 0 Comments.
There's a gorgeous, huge new Craftsman at 511 Pacific, at the lower end of the Hill Section but boasting big views nonetheless.Last year, pre-completion, it was offered at $8.150m. It began last month at a flat $8m.
When these big-dollar listings cut, they really cut.
How about $1.325m in one swipe?
Suddenly an $8m listing is not even a $7m listing. It's at $6.675m.
So if you haven't yet completed your holiday shopping, and you find interest rates favorable...
This is not the only Hillie with a $1m+ chop. The new home at 218 N. Dianthus has cut $1.255m to $5.495m, and the lot sale at 222 Poinsettia is down $1m to $6.9m. Very close: 930 John has chopped $960k to $3.999m.
The tactic can work. In the past 6 months, 3 other sales in the Hills have chopped $1m:
- 900
We Want Candy
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 6:57am. 109 Views, 0 Comments.
The Federal Reserve has set a target rate of 0.00-0.25%.
Rates will stay at these "exceptionally low levels" for some time, we hear.
Woo-hoo!
Mortgage rates – even on refis – are dropping into the 5's, indeed, as low as 5%, as a result of a separate Fed action to manipulate long-term rates, er, to buy mortgage-backed securities and long-term Treasury bonds.
Woo-hoo!
The outgoing national government has socialized trillions of dollars in losses and has tried, almost against all hope, to "restore confidence" in the financial markets. (A certain recently revealed gigantic, titanic, unfathomably huge Ponzi scheme may serve as another blow to "confidence.")
But, face it, the more you hand decisions about economic action back to individuals, the more action you'll…
Rates will stay at these "exceptionally low levels" for some time, we hear.
Woo-hoo!
Mortgage rates – even on refis – are dropping into the 5's, indeed, as low as 5%, as a result of a separate Fed action to manipulate long-term rates, er, to buy mortgage-backed securities and long-term Treasury bonds.
Woo-hoo!
The outgoing national government has socialized trillions of dollars in losses and has tried, almost against all hope, to "restore confidence" in the financial markets. (A certain recently revealed gigantic, titanic, unfathomably huge Ponzi scheme may serve as another blow to "confidence.")
But, face it, the more you hand decisions about economic action back to individuals, the more action you'll…
