October 2011 
There are 21 blog entries for October 2011.
New Low for Tree PPSF
Monday, October 31st, 2011 at 10:18pm. 151 Views, 0 Comments.
That was quick.
Just 10 days ago, we pointed out that the median PPSF for the Tree Section this year is $584/PSF, with the low for Q1-Q3 2011 being $415/PSF at 700 13th (7br/5ba, 3100 sq. ft.).
Now a new low for the Trees for the year has been set, another 9% below the last low.
That came at 1908 Elm (4br/3ba, 3520 sq. ft.), a mid-1980s build that had been somewhat refreshed recently.
The recent sale at $1.330m of this very large home wound up with a PPSF of $378/PSF.
Sub-400?
1908 Elm had a somewhat tough time in 2 listings over the past couple of years.
The home made it onto an MBC list in July 2010 as one a few "ugly ducklings." (Face it, it was.) It ran 4 months from $1.590m down to $1.499m, then quit.
Coming back this year, after that refresher, it…
Just 10 days ago, we pointed out that the median PPSF for the Tree Section this year is $584/PSF, with the low for Q1-Q3 2011 being $415/PSF at 700 13th (7br/5ba, 3100 sq. ft.).
Now a new low for the Trees for the year has been set, another 9% below the last low.
That came at 1908 Elm (4br/3ba, 3520 sq. ft.), a mid-1980s build that had been somewhat refreshed recently.The recent sale at $1.330m of this very large home wound up with a PPSF of $378/PSF.
Sub-400?
1908 Elm had a somewhat tough time in 2 listings over the past couple of years.
The home made it onto an MBC list in July 2010 as one a few "ugly ducklings." (Face it, it was.) It ran 4 months from $1.590m down to $1.499m, then quit.
Coming back this year, after that refresher, it…
Weekend Opens (10/29-10/30)
Saturday, October 29th, 2011 at 4:07pm. 137 Views, 0 Comments.
You canNOT compete with the pumpkins.
This seems to be the guiding principle of would-be sellers this weekend. No way are they launching a new listing amid this pumpkin race phenomenon.
We did find 2 new listings, though – even if one required us to go all the way into the Village. Yep, just like we wondered about last week. Finally happened. (See our last review below.)
And we've added in a selection of not-as-new listings that are worth a tour this weekend if you've missed them previously. Drop in before you head down to the pumpkin race finals.
You know we're in the tank for the World Famous Pumpkin Race, ever since they moved it downtown a few years back.
But this is a particularly good year to make sure you participate, because it truly almost didn't…
This seems to be the guiding principle of would-be sellers this weekend. No way are they launching a new listing amid this pumpkin race phenomenon.
We did find 2 new listings, though – even if one required us to go all the way into the Village. Yep, just like we wondered about last week. Finally happened. (See our last review below.)
And we've added in a selection of not-as-new listings that are worth a tour this weekend if you've missed them previously. Drop in before you head down to the pumpkin race finals.
You know we're in the tank for the World Famous Pumpkin Race, ever since they moved it downtown a few years back.But this is a particularly good year to make sure you participate, because it truly almost didn't…
Making Upside-Down Work
Friday, October 28th, 2011 at 6:16pm. 136 Views, 0 Comments.
Even flawed houses sell. It's just a matter of price.
608 29th (4br/4ba, 3070 sq. ft.) is a good, recent example.
As we said in our initial review in early August, the home "promises so much. It's got a lot of space on a great block... [plus an] ample, grassy yard with plenty of play space, patio/outdoor living and even tasteful landscaping."
For this, sellers sought $1.775m to start. In the abstract, this seemed not to be crazy.
We brought a client to the home on the first day possible, and that day, as we've said here, "excitement turned to disappointment."
That's because 608 29th has an "upside-down" or "flip-flop" layout, with the 3 main bedrooms downstairs, and living spaces (+1br) upstairs. (The gentler term for this layout is "reverse…
608 29th (4br/4ba, 3070 sq. ft.) is a good, recent example. As we said in our initial review in early August, the home "promises so much. It's got a lot of space on a great block... [plus an] ample, grassy yard with plenty of play space, patio/outdoor living and even tasteful landscaping."
For this, sellers sought $1.775m to start. In the abstract, this seemed not to be crazy.
We brought a client to the home on the first day possible, and that day, as we've said here, "excitement turned to disappointment."
That's because 608 29th has an "upside-down" or "flip-flop" layout, with the 3 main bedrooms downstairs, and living spaces (+1br) upstairs. (The gentler term for this layout is "reverse…
Ocean View, One-Third Off
Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 2:09pm. 155 Views, 0 Comments.
We see trades around town on bubble-era purchases where the drop upon resale is less than 20%. A drop somewhere in the teens seems normal for a 2006-07 purchase resold today, though there are exceptions. Yes, MB is performing better than most markets post-bubble.
So what about a newer home, west of Highland with big ocean views and walkable to MB's "second downtown," El Norte south of Rosecrans?
The short sale at 233 30th (3br/4ba, 2325 sq. ft.) is currently queued up for a one-third drop from '07.
This SFR was almost perfectly timed to hit the market as the bubble popped. First listing: May 2007.
The home was purchased new in Aug. 2007 for $2.250m and used subsequently as a rental/investment property.
Wait, $2.250m? Maybe the bubble hadn't popped yet.
But…
So what about a newer home, west of Highland with big ocean views and walkable to MB's "second downtown," El Norte south of Rosecrans?
The short sale at 233 30th (3br/4ba, 2325 sq. ft.) is currently queued up for a one-third drop from '07. This SFR was almost perfectly timed to hit the market as the bubble popped. First listing: May 2007.
The home was purchased new in Aug. 2007 for $2.250m and used subsequently as a rental/investment property.
Wait, $2.250m? Maybe the bubble hadn't popped yet.
But…
Another Strand Flop
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at 9:00pm. 202 Views, 0 Comments.
We had this sense early in 2011 that a few Strand properties were coming out overpriced, and that this would have negative ramifications for them down the road.
With the most recent closed sale on The Strand, that sense has proved out.
A second Strand property has now closed with a 5 in front.
That's 2504 The Strand, touted as "exquisite," yet truly anything but.
We've called it "a dated if 'modernistic' home" on account of the remodel done roughly in the 80s.
It's actually 2 separate structures – the front unit which you see here, and a crusty 1br/1ba rental unit in the rear that dates way back, perhaps to the mid-1950s construction. (Note: We never toured the rear unit.)
2504 The Strand began at $7.190m in March, and 5+ months later it…
With the most recent closed sale on The Strand, that sense has proved out.
A second Strand property has now closed with a 5 in front.
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| 2504 The Strand |
We've called it "a dated if 'modernistic' home" on account of the remodel done roughly in the 80s.
It's actually 2 separate structures – the front unit which you see here, and a crusty 1br/1ba rental unit in the rear that dates way back, perhaps to the mid-1950s construction. (Note: We never toured the rear unit.)
2504 The Strand began at $7.190m in March, and 5+ months later it…
MBC Breaks a Million (Or More)
Monday, October 24th, 2011 at 7:03pm. 128 Views, 0 Comments.
We just got some interesting news from The Google.
MBC has officially crossed the 1 million pageview threshold.
A million is a lot, unless you're buying a house in MB, right?
As the little graphic below shows, we actually went over the 1 million mark a few days ago, and are now 13k above the line. Pretty cool.
We're taking note of this about 4 1/2 years into our run here online, and we're not going to belabor the point that a lot has changed since March 2007.
We got to looking at this number in more detail, however, and with our always-skeptical take on data, we could see that something did not add up right.
Divide a million visits by 4 1/2 years, and that's about 615 pageviews per day. Not bad, but just yesterday, according…
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| One meeeeeeellion pageviews! |
A million is a lot, unless you're buying a house in MB, right?
As the little graphic below shows, we actually went over the 1 million mark a few days ago, and are now 13k above the line. Pretty cool.
We're taking note of this about 4 1/2 years into our run here online, and we're not going to belabor the point that a lot has changed since March 2007.
We got to looking at this number in more detail, however, and with our always-skeptical take on data, we could see that something did not add up right.Divide a million visits by 4 1/2 years, and that's about 615 pageviews per day. Not bad, but just yesterday, according…
Weekend Opens (10/22-10/23)
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at 5:15pm. 138 Views, 0 Comments.
You would hardly know it's late October by the rush of listings. A lot of new opens are coming up east of Sepulveda – as this post will demonstrate – but there are land sales, elite sales and all kinds of things west of the highway as well.
A bumper crop one week before Halloween? That's a surprise by any measure.
Those of you reading MBC on the main site (rather than by email) have seen our ad for a couple of weeks for Saturday's TEDx event in MB, themed "Transforming Learning."
The all-day event did sell out, but you can view streaming video on the TEDxMB blog, or see updates on the event's Facebook page and on Twitter using the hashtag #TEDXMB. (We like the note from Stanford U folks who brought a 3-D printer – we have got to make MBC 3-D some day.)
To…
A bumper crop one week before Halloween? That's a surprise by any measure.
Those of you reading MBC on the main site (rather than by email) have seen our ad for a couple of weeks for Saturday's TEDx event in MB, themed "Transforming Learning."The all-day event did sell out, but you can view streaming video on the TEDxMB blog, or see updates on the event's Facebook page and on Twitter using the hashtag #TEDXMB. (We like the note from Stanford U folks who brought a 3-D printer – we have got to make MBC 3-D some day.)
To…
PPSF in the Trees, Q1-Q3 '11
Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 4:15pm. 162 Views, 0 Comments.
Wow, run a few numbers, and suddenly everyone's got an opinion.
Most of what your blog author heard in response to yesterday's post on Sand Section PPSF was personal and not posted here on the site (i.e., confidential), but it's fair to say that opinion was polarized.
One reaction: Thanks for the info. Give me more.
The other: PPSF is the most irrelevant data point, why are you wasting our time?
At risk of wasting more time, we've poured a little more of our own time into looking at Tree Section PPSF for this year's sales.
As before, this seems like a useful indicator of the general flow of things before you start adjusting for location, recognizing the impact of lot size, location, etc.
As you'll see in our new chart, the middle ground in the Trees hovers…
Most of what your blog author heard in response to yesterday's post on Sand Section PPSF was personal and not posted here on the site (i.e., confidential), but it's fair to say that opinion was polarized.
One reaction: Thanks for the info. Give me more.
The other: PPSF is the most irrelevant data point, why are you wasting our time?
At risk of wasting more time, we've poured a little more of our own time into looking at Tree Section PPSF for this year's sales.
As before, this seems like a useful indicator of the general flow of things before you start adjusting for location, recognizing the impact of lot size, location, etc.
As you'll see in our new chart, the middle ground in the Trees hovers…PPSF in the Sand, Q1-Q3 '11
Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at 4:06am. 156 Views, 0 Comments.
Yesterday we looked at some of the most rock-bottom-priced Sand Section listings and sales by the measure of price per square foot (PPSF).
The inspiration for that post was a new price cut at 301 16th that called attention to the very low PPSF for the property – just over $500/PSF currently – which, we noted, is "unusual for the Sand Section."
So what's "usual" for the Sand Section?
We decided to answer that the best way we know how: With data.
This new chart (click to enlarge) gives you several answers, depending on what you're interested in.
The most solidly colored columns in the charts are the median prices by the foot. (Half the prices in the sample are higher, half are lower.)
Medians are generally more reliable as indicators than averages. Average…
The inspiration for that post was a new price cut at 301 16th that called attention to the very low PPSF for the property – just over $500/PSF currently – which, we noted, is "unusual for the Sand Section."
So what's "usual" for the Sand Section?
We decided to answer that the best way we know how: With data.
This new chart (click to enlarge) gives you several answers, depending on what you're interested in.The most solidly colored columns in the charts are the median prices by the foot. (Half the prices in the sample are higher, half are lower.)
Medians are generally more reliable as indicators than averages. Average…
Low By the Foot
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 9:39pm. 163 Views, 0 Comments.
Take an extraordinarily big home, expose it to the market for almost 2 years, and what might you eventually see?
One thing: A price per square foot that's dipping near $500/PSF, unusual for the Sand Section.
301 16th (6br/7ba, 6300 sq. ft.) is the home in question, one we've previously called "a mixed-up walkstreet contemporary along Highland."
With a recent cut, this one's now priced at $3.235m. That's still a chunk of change, to be sure, but we noted some language in the listing:
The price per square foot is below virtually all other homes on the market in Manhattan Beach - this property is a steal!!! Turns out, that statement about lowest PPSF is really only accurate for the Sand Section.
At $514/PSF currently, 16th St. is undersold by only 2 active…
One thing: A price per square foot that's dipping near $500/PSF, unusual for the Sand Section.
301 16th (6br/7ba, 6300 sq. ft.) is the home in question, one we've previously called "a mixed-up walkstreet contemporary along Highland."With a recent cut, this one's now priced at $3.235m. That's still a chunk of change, to be sure, but we noted some language in the listing:
The price per square foot is below virtually all other homes on the market in Manhattan Beach - this property is a steal!!! Turns out, that statement about lowest PPSF is really only accurate for the Sand Section.
At $514/PSF currently, 16th St. is undersold by only 2 active…
