July 2012 
There are 15 blog entries for July 2012.
Weekend Opens (7/28-7/29)
Saturday, July 28th, 2012 at 3:09pm. 206 Views, 0 Comments.
In the past week, we've seen 12 new listings in MB (SFRs and THs), plus 2 more "pending" properties that came back to market. So a net addition of 14.
It seems like a rush of inventory, until you consider the net loss of 15 publicly listed properties that went into escrow at the same time.
Call it a net -1 for the week.
Still, we have a few more new options to send you out to see this weekend. (We saw 9 new MB listings Friday, but just 4 are open to the public now.)
Nothing quite as exciting as the queen of England parachuting out of a helicopter, but some decent options regardless.
To plan your weekend tours, try this Redfin map list of open houses – sort by price or sub-region of MB by clicking the title on a column.
Or click here for the new-format Beach…
It seems like a rush of inventory, until you consider the net loss of 15 publicly listed properties that went into escrow at the same time.
Call it a net -1 for the week.
Still, we have a few more new options to send you out to see this weekend. (We saw 9 new MB listings Friday, but just 4 are open to the public now.)
Nothing quite as exciting as the queen of England parachuting out of a helicopter, but some decent options regardless.To plan your weekend tours, try this Redfin map list of open houses – sort by price or sub-region of MB by clicking the title on a column.
Or click here for the new-format Beach…
Prime Hill Spot Taken
Thursday, July 26th, 2012 at 2:46am. 193 Views, 0 Comments.
It took 6 months, but it looks like one of the prime lots in the Hill Section will now change hands.
That would be 636 8th, a fairly narrow, but deep, 9950 sq. ft. lot that drops down wonderfully to the south. The views toward PV and Catalina are top-flight, quintessential Hill Section panoramas.
This one began in February at $4.850m, notably above the $4.3m-ish range of 3 comparable sales nearby. (See "Big Views, Nearly $5m for Dirt," for MBC's rundown.)
In May, they cut to $4.575m, splitting the 12% difference between the other sales and the start price. And from there, the sellers stood pat for another couple of months.
Could they get a 4.5-ish price now? You've got the warming market on the one hand, and the 6-month runtime…
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| Current house at 636 8th |
This one began in February at $4.850m, notably above the $4.3m-ish range of 3 comparable sales nearby. (See "Big Views, Nearly $5m for Dirt," for MBC's rundown.)
In May, they cut to $4.575m, splitting the 12% difference between the other sales and the start price. And from there, the sellers stood pat for another couple of months.
Could they get a 4.5-ish price now? You've got the warming market on the one hand, and the 6-month runtime…
$2.9m for New Construx in East MB
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at 6:05pm. 163 Views, 0 Comments.
One of East MB's newest listings is seeking beach-adjacent type numbers.
That's 1200 10th, slated to be a new 5br/6ba, 4600 sq. ft. Cape Cod at some point in, roughly, 2013.
Asking price, pre-completion: $2.899m.
For East MB, on a standard 7500 sq. ft. lot.
To which you might say, "good luck with that," but for another – simultaneously posted – new East MB listing, which is already in escrow.
That'd be 1626 1st, comparably sized at 5br/5ba, 4950 sq. ft., which the same developer sold pre-construction, with a posted price while in escrow of $2.899m. (There's that number again.) It's also due to be finished in 2013. (There's that number again.)
Folks are betting on the future.
What about the past?
For context, there's just one sale…
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| 1200 10th - computer sketch |
Asking price, pre-completion: $2.899m.
For East MB, on a standard 7500 sq. ft. lot.
To which you might say, "good luck with that," but for another – simultaneously posted – new East MB listing, which is already in escrow.
That'd be 1626 1st, comparably sized at 5br/5ba, 4950 sq. ft., which the same developer sold pre-construction, with a posted price while in escrow of $2.899m. (There's that number again.) It's also due to be finished in 2013. (There's that number again.)
Folks are betting on the future.
What about the past?
For context, there's just one sale…
Close the Books on 128 18th
Monday, July 23rd, 2012 at 6:58pm. 159 Views, 0 Comments.
The biggest spec construction sale of 2012 is now committed to history.
128 18th (5br/5ba, 4000 sq. ft.) is a new "tropical contemporary" in one of the best locations in town, period, given that 18th is probably the best of the teen streets west of Highland.
The sale wasn't quick – 5 months on market – and it didn't crack $6m, as had been the original ambition with a $6.1m start price.
The final price: $5.650m.
Most of the recent sales in the 100- and low-200-blocks are right in the same $5.6m-ish range:
128 18th (5br/5ba, 4000 sq. ft.) is a new "tropical contemporary" in one of the best locations in town, period, given that 18th is probably the best of the teen streets west of Highland. The sale wasn't quick – 5 months on market – and it didn't crack $6m, as had been the original ambition with a $6.1m start price.
The final price: $5.650m.
Most of the recent sales in the 100- and low-200-blocks are right in the same $5.6m-ish range:
- 128 6th at $5.595m (Jan. 2011);
- 209 16th, pre-completion new construction, now in escrow with a list price of $5.6m; and
- 200 19th at $5.6m (March 2008).
Weekend Opens (7/21-7/22)
Saturday, July 21st, 2012 at 3:38pm. 227 Views, 0 Comments.
In what really should be a beachy kind of weekend, all of MB's newest open houses will be east of Sepulveda.
Maybe check them out Sunday, late, then head over to the concert in the park. (This week: 80s hair band/metal tribute act Time Bomb.)
While you're shuffling around town this weekend, try to imagine how much easier, more fun and even more environmentally sound some of your trips might be in a zippy little electric car.
MBC author Dave Fratello is getting that experience firsthand for a couple of months, thanks to a promotional lease of a GEM electric car.
This 4-seater "Local Use Vehicle" (LUV) is courtesy of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments as part of demonstration project. Can we replace the use of full-size, full-power, gasoline…
Maybe check them out Sunday, late, then head over to the concert in the park. (This week: 80s hair band/metal tribute act Time Bomb.)
While you're shuffling around town this weekend, try to imagine how much easier, more fun and even more environmentally sound some of your trips might be in a zippy little electric car.
MBC author Dave Fratello is getting that experience firsthand for a couple of months, thanks to a promotional lease of a GEM electric car.This 4-seater "Local Use Vehicle" (LUV) is courtesy of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments as part of demonstration project. Can we replace the use of full-size, full-power, gasoline…
The Strange Case of 1021 33rd
Friday, July 20th, 2012 at 3:14pm. 205 Views, 0 Comments.
When yet another Speedy Speckie sprouted, hitting the market this week (807 Boundary Place), it prompted a reader's question to MBC: "What about the one at 33rd by Sepulveda? I pass it every day and there are people living there. But you have never written about it."
The reader wanted to know if 1021 33rd had sold or rented out.
True, no sale ever posted. But public records do show a sale for $1.500m in May.
That's interesting in part because of the price history on this one.
Brand new, when first listed in mid-December 2011, the home was offered at $1.699m. Not bad for new. Then, 8 days later, the price shot up $400k to $2.1m.
So the final sale price was down $200k from the 8-day-long start price, and down $600k (-29%) from last asking.
…
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| 1021 33rd St. |
True, no sale ever posted. But public records do show a sale for $1.500m in May.
That's interesting in part because of the price history on this one.
Brand new, when first listed in mid-December 2011, the home was offered at $1.699m. Not bad for new. Then, 8 days later, the price shot up $400k to $2.1m.
So the final sale price was down $200k from the 8-day-long start price, and down $600k (-29%) from last asking.
…
Santa Barbara on Palm Has a Deal
Thursday, July 19th, 2012 at 4:56am. 170 Views, 0 Comments.
We were pretty frank in our first review of 1820 Palm.The sellers were starting, most likely, "above market price" at $2.149m, for a 2450 sq. ft. remodel. They were hoping that the super location and very nice Spanish/modern styling would propel them to surprising heights.
We called the home "undeniably sharp and attractive," but wondered if the 70s original could really command anything like that kind of money. Especially with a patio rather than a yard.
Then the sellers corrected to $1.999m a month ago, and we were unsurprised at the 7% cut.
But still... $2m for 2400-odd sq. ft.?
It's just a month after that cut, and now they've posted that they've got a deal at 1820 Palm.
5 bedrooms, great block, style... no work to do. Can you almost see it? How do they wind up?
An 11% Chop on Anderson
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 at 2:51pm. 222 Views, 0 Comments.
Maybe it was a hot cup of coffee. Or a cold splash of ocean water to the face.
Whatever it was, something woke up the sellers of 222 Anderson to give them this idea: We're never getting $4.5m for this house.
So they cut big: $500k (-11%) before hitting 2 full months on the market.
We had almost forgotten what it was like to see sellers cut prices or hang around 2 months, hadn't you?
222 Anderson (5br/5ba, 4625 sq. ft.) is a gorgeous, custom, ocean-view house boasting all sorts of exquisite touches and special craftsmanship. (See our review from early June.)
It's right down the middle as an example of a certain kind of Manhattan Beach Hill Section home... more than big enough, 2000s vintage (2001 in this case), Mediterranean style,…
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| 222 Anderson |
So they cut big: $500k (-11%) before hitting 2 full months on the market.
We had almost forgotten what it was like to see sellers cut prices or hang around 2 months, hadn't you?
222 Anderson (5br/5ba, 4625 sq. ft.) is a gorgeous, custom, ocean-view house boasting all sorts of exquisite touches and special craftsmanship. (See our review from early June.)
It's right down the middle as an example of a certain kind of Manhattan Beach Hill Section home... more than big enough, 2000s vintage (2001 in this case), Mediterranean style,…
Sunday Opens (7/15)
Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at 2:23pm. 177 Views, 0 Comments.
How'd you like to see the first $5m Tree Section house?
Set aside part of your Sunday afternoon for that one. It's not the unique funhouse that 3305 Pine was, but 624 14th, the top draw for the weekend, is a destination house nonetheless, particularly if you dream of the Martyrs area.
Speaking of the 5's, there's also reference in Sunday morning's LA Times "Hot Property" column to a $5.5m East MB sale that just posted a couple of weeks ago. That was this off-market sale in East MB (pictured), which went to the USC football coach.
We have quite a few other new offerings not in the 5's this weekend, nothing like the near-boycott last weekend. Summer inventory is definitely interesting.
To plan out your weekend…
Set aside part of your Sunday afternoon for that one. It's not the unique funhouse that 3305 Pine was, but 624 14th, the top draw for the weekend, is a destination house nonetheless, particularly if you dream of the Martyrs area.
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| $5.5m for this East MB house for the USC coach |
We have quite a few other new offerings not in the 5's this weekend, nothing like the near-boycott last weekend. Summer inventory is definitely interesting.
To plan out your weekend…
More Median Price Data, 2006-2012
Friday, July 13th, 2012 at 3:17pm. 169 Views, 0 Comments.
As we noted first last week, the sales data for our little hamlet from the first half of 2012 don't exactly tell the story we expected.
Median prices down? Even with the mini-frenzy that has erupted over some listings this year?
Yes and no.
Citywide, the median price for SFRs is down by any measure. (See our first chart here; click to enlarge.)
That's true whether you look at the 6-month or 12-month periods ending June 30, 2012.
But West of Sepulveda, the median price is up. Again, by either measure.
The deeper you get into these data, the more you see that there's something for everyone.
You can prove prices are up by a little or (nearly) a lot. Or you can prove that prices are down. You can prove that West of Sepulveda is performing much better than MB as…
Median prices down? Even with the mini-frenzy that has erupted over some listings this year?Yes and no.
Citywide, the median price for SFRs is down by any measure. (See our first chart here; click to enlarge.)
That's true whether you look at the 6-month or 12-month periods ending June 30, 2012.
But West of Sepulveda, the median price is up. Again, by either measure.
The deeper you get into these data, the more you see that there's something for everyone.
You can prove prices are up by a little or (nearly) a lot. Or you can prove that prices are down. You can prove that West of Sepulveda is performing much better than MB as…
