We'll come back to answer a couple of questions raised by our prior post, "Don't Gauge the Market by August."
First, as we like to do with our market update posts, we'd like to focus on a few notable sales from the first part of the month.
We saw two homes west of Highland on nearby walkstreets sell.
One…
We'll come back to answer a couple of questions raised by our prior post, "Don't Gauge the Market by August."
First, as we like to do with our market update posts, we'd like to focus on a few notable sales from the first part of the month.
We saw two homes west of Highland on nearby walkstreets sell.
One was 220 16th (5br/4ba, 2700 sqft.), boasting a 1960s build date but a more recent remodel.
The home has an echo of 1990s contemporary, NYC urbanity and ocean views from the front and particularly from the nifty back deck.
The listing now displays only one photo, but in our mid-May weekend opens post, you can see a few more (scan down to the Sand Section).
Asking was $5.499M and the sale has closed for $5.150M.
Quite a bit lower down on nearby 17th St., a somewhat smaller home at 132 17th has also closed.
The 3br/2ba, 1950 sqft. home dates back to the early 1950s, but has been added onto and updated.
This one is just a few sandal-optional steps to the sand.
Like the 16th St. house, the asking was just a bit out in front of the market, but they did just fine.
Asking: $5.995M. Close: $5.500M.
Comparing the two, it's notable to see the smaller, lower home netting more overall. That's the value of a 100-block location versus a 200-block.
One of our favorite recent offerings in the Tree Section was 2916 Palm (5br/4ba, 3350 sqft.), a 2004 Cape Cod with some updates.
Start was $3.199M, and they accepted an offer within a month.
Closed at $3.100M.
We'll also note a Hill Section closing.
849 10th (5br/5ba, 4350 sqft.) tried first last Summer at $3.950M, looking very Mediterranean. After 3 weeks, they went off market and painted almost everything white, inside and out. (The only thing that used to be white, the kitchen island, was painted blue.)
It didn't sell after 2 more months (some at $3.850M), and went back off market.
Suddenly, here it has popped up sold as an off-market sale, at $3.700M.
849 10th had first sold new in '06 for $2.723M, and resold in March 2012, after 8 months on market, for less: $2.400M.
OK back to some data.
We were asked to explain a remark in that prior post, "[O]ur message for the Manhattan Beach market in general is: September and October have some work to do... it looks like we took our Summer break this year a bit early."
What we meant by "some work to do" is that the sales pace dropped notably this year, apparently by May, and no one really knows why. There was no interest rate spike, for instance. This was a surprise because sales were roaring early in the year.
Everyone would like to see 2019 get back on track.
We already told you that June's performance was weak, in terms of closed sales, with notably the fewest closings of any June in the past 7 years. (See our June 30 market update.)
July was gnarly, too.
Our new chart above compares 2019's performance, month-by-month, to averages from the prior 7 years. Looking good till June/July.
But remember, we don't gauge the market in August!
We developed another stat about market activity that looks somewhat better.
We simply looked at how many properties were pending (in escrow) during 3 main Summer periods, at the point of our regular market updates in mid-July, end-July and mid-August.
The chart compares the average of 5 prior years (2013-17) with last year (2018) and this year.
What you're seeing here is that 2019 looks similar to, but a tiny bit slower than, the average pace.
The two July periods were notably lower this year than in 2018, but there are more pending sales now in mid-August than last year. (The numbers are 45 pending this year, 41 last year.)
No, it's not clear what the numbers tell us, other than one thing: We don't have a scary lack of pending sales in Manhattan Beach this year, as of mid-August. Closed sales are lagging, but maybe August can reverse the trend. Just close some of those pendings.
Oh right, don't gauge the market in August!
Here's the rest of our local real estate market update report for the period ending 8/15/19:
- 124 active listings as of 8/15/19 (-3 from 7/31/19)
- 99 SFRs (-2)
- 25 THs (-2)
See the Inventory list as of 8/15/19 here, or see the MB Dashboard for up-to-the-minute data.
Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach in this report:
- Tree Section: 21 actives (-2)
- Sand Section: 59 actives (+1)
- Hill Section:17 actives (-2)
- East MB: 27 (flat)
We're also providing a report on closed sales by region of MB.
Sales data, including PPSF for all properties, are organized by sub-region of Manhattan Beach.
Here's a link to the spreadsheet: "MB Pending/Sold as of 8/15/19."
Please see our blog disclaimer.
Listings presented above are supplied via the MLS and are brokered by a variety of agents and firms, not Dave Fratello or Edge Real Estate Agency, unless so stated with the listing. Images and links to properties above lead to a full MLS display of information, including home details, lot size, all photos, and listing broker and agent information and contact information.