All Blog Entries by Dave Fratello

Among the most modest homes you'll find in Manhattan Beach real estate are the old 3br cottages.

In the postwar boom, that was the basic home style, so many date back to the 1940s and 50s, originally.

In the time since, a lot has happened in Manhattan Beach.

Sometimes these old cottages are only prized for the dirt underneath them. But often, you'll see there is still plenty of interest in a simple 3 bedroom house that's "just enough" for a family, and "not too much" on price.

We'll take a look here at some 3br cottage sales in East Manhattan Beach, where it seems 3br homes are less endangered -- that is, more likely to be restored/updated than razed for new construction.

East of Sepulveda, many lots are 7500 sqft. (mainly in the Mira Costa…

'Tis the season.

Sunday evening, it's the 30th annual Manhattan Beach Holiday Fireworks exhibition... and all that comes with it around the pier in a daylong celebration.

Many listings, like the new home at 212 16th that is debuting this weekend, won't hold open houses on Sunday, due to the traffic and commotion downtown. So if you're interested in seeing one, be sure to make time Saturday for open houses.

To plan your open-house tours for this week, use MB Confidential's online list of Manhattan Beach open houses (it's mobile-friendly!). Our open house link always appears in our weekly wrapups and on the main front page, under "Open Houses."

Below, click any address link to view all photos and property details. And don't forget, when…

We're looking back now to the second part of November, looking for data, trends and so forth.

One number will get your attention.

Inventory at the end of November was at 90 listings citywide in Manhattan Beach. This is 15 more than the recent high, 21 more than last year at this time.

This would seem to count as evidence of the market slowing down in Q4 2018. Certainly, it's evidence of a change afoot.

This is one of the first data-based confirmations of the "buzz" in the market that we've reported here for weeks. (And that we've mostly failed to validate previously. But you might look back at "Housing Stats That Worry Experts" for some insights.)

If there are more homes out there now than at the same comparable point in prior years, that's…

A mere 4 months ago, an oversized Tree Section lot at 3412 Palm sold for $1.720M.

It was the end of a process that may have been frustrating along the way.

The listing racked up 103 DOM, despite coming out at a good time of year (March) and having no real competition. The 6150 sqft. lot on a corner opened up all kinds of development possibilities.

Must have been a price problem, you say?

The listing began at $2.049M.

But within 5 weeks, they fixed that. The price was cut to $1.799M.

Another 10 weeks rolled by, with no deal.

The buyer who came in July paid the aforementioned $1.720M, and it was done.

Feel like you missed it?

Now, you can have the same lot for $2.195M. (Here's the new listing.)

That'd be $475K more than…