inventory

The biggest news in local real estate right now might be this weekend's Sophisticated Snoop tour. It's the 40th year, and your chance to see the triple-lot house on The Strand, as well as 4 other great homes.

True facts we just learned about the triple-lot house (212 The Strand):

• They call it "Beachwood"
• They cite influences including "the Caribbean, the American East Coast and the Far East"
• Materials used include flooring "rumored to be from Napoleon's stables"
• According to the Snoop flyer, there is an "underwater grotto"

This year's selection of homes offer a great reason to part with $35 this weekend. Tickets are available from several downtown stores if you missed the chance at presale. Check it out.

In other news, it's time

Blame low inventory.

The one and only measure by which MB is not off to a gangbusters start this year is: The number of closed sales.

Not enough product, not enough sales. Evidence suggests MB is not lacking for demand at all.

To see some context, we looked back 10 years at the number of SFR sales in the first third of each year.

With 96 sales closing between Jan. 1-April 30 this year, we're slightly trailing the pace of 2012, and only barely above 2011. Really, the last 3 years look the same.

This year blows away the two popped-bubble years, 2008 and 2009, and is somewhat better than 2010.

But as bubbly as this year feels, it can't hold a candle to the 4 bubble years captured in our chart here. From 2004-2007, there were well over 100

So many new listings, but still many new sales.

Inventory dropped from late March through mid-month.

Here's the quick overview on active inventory:

• 35 active listings as of 4/15/13
• 29 SFRs
• 6 THs

This is a drop in inventory by 7 homes from the end of March. New listings are simply being absorbed.

(Update: Inventory is at 41 total as of Friday morning.)

Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach:

• Tree Section: 8 actives
• Sand Section: 13 actives
• Hill Section: 1 actives
• East MB: 10 actives

You can see the complete report on active listings, with live links to every property, in this single post on our data blog: "MB Inventory as of 4/15/13."

It's worth noting that Sand Section listings dropped the most,

The Manhattan Beach real estate market remains active. Spring has sprung in a big way.

Turns out that April Fool's day "moratorium" proposal was a nonstarter. (You did know it was April Fool's, right? Like our past posts about Obama regulating house prices and Robert Shiller leaving "fusty" and "damn cold" Yale for USC and a nice MB walkstreet, among others.)

Back to business, though. It's time our twice-monthly Manhattan Beach market updates.

Here's the quick overview on active inventory:

• 42 active listings as of 3/15/13
• 38 SFRs
• 4 THs

This is a drop in inventory by 4 homes total, very surprising to see given that we saw 29 new listings post just between March 16-31. New listings are simply being absorbed, and quickly.

Active

Sometimes people might wonder: Why, Dave, do you spend so much effort rushing to review all the public open houses?

Last week, we wrote about 9 new listings in our "Weekend Opens" post, and that wasn't even all the new inventory.

One answer is: We're not sure we'll have a second chance to mention these homes if we don't get to them right away, as they come out.

Consider: Of the 9 we wrote about last week, 7 already have deals. Buyers positively raided the Tree Section:

585 31st (6br/7ba, 3500 sq. ft.) is new construction on a street-to-alley lot west of Blanche, with a pleasing Cape Cod-inspired style, white and bright all around.

We loved the great room in back, with wide-open spaces, high ceilings, dark flooring, a vast and modern kitchen

It's time for another one of our twice-monthly Manhattan Beach market updates.

Here's the quick overview on active inventory:

• 46 active listings as of 3/15/13
• 43 SFRs
• 3 THs

It is a little surprising to see inventory still hanging in the low 40s, given that we saw 19 new listings post in the week of March 10-17. You can see how quickly new listings are being absorbed. Inventory at the end of February, just 2 weeks ago, was 45.

Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach:

• Tree Section: 16 actives
• Sand Section: 20 actives
• Hill Section: 3 actives
• East MB: 7 actives

You can see the complete report on active listings, with live links to every property, in this single post on our data blog: "MB Inventory as of

You've been running for years, let's say.

A parent or friend dragged you into it. Cross country in high school. UO for college just to get yourself to Eugene. (Cue the chorus of angels.)

Or maybe you got the bug later in life. A 5K here, a 10K there, and then, gradually, the whole idea of running for distance just clicked.

Either way, you know the training, the preparation, the solo time, the team time, the hours and miles you have to log, just to get ready.

Finally, you're ready for the marathon.

This weekend, LA's got its marathon. (That's a fantastic course, we've run it, we love it, and we're both rooting for, and secretly jealous of, friends [and clients] who will run the LA Marathon this weekend.)

But MB's got its marathon, too,