If you blinked, you may have missed
1544 Voorhees this Spring.
But take note, because last week's sale at Voorhees has just raised the bar, lifted the boats, bumped up the comps – however you want to say it.
It could be a bullish sign for East MB after a few years without sales in the mid-to-high 2's.
The huge, lovingly crafted custom house at Voorhees (6br/6ba, 5135 sq. ft.) on a standard lot (7500 sq. ft.) just sold for
$2.6m. It was informally offered for some time at an asking price of $2.7m, hit the public market at that number in late March and had a deal within 2 weeks.
We knew there was really no recent precedent for that sale (as an appraiser surely noted), but we decided to dig deeper and find out just how long it has been since East MB saw sales at that level. Here's our rundown of top sales – and $2.5m+ sales – from 2006-2011.
By excluding gargantuan sales (there are a few anomalous, huge lots and properties in East MB), we find the top sales for each year among "standard" size newer homes (square footage mainly in the 4000s) as follows:
- 2006: $2.800m
- 2007: $3.100m
- 2008: $2.580m
- 2009: $2.310m
- 2010: $2.035m
- 2011: $2.200m
Let's look at the top sales in a bit more detail. For each period, we'll also look to see how many homes sold for about $2.5m or more in East MB.
Top Sales of 2006 |
| 1603 5th |
1603 5th St. (5br/5ba, 4700 sq. ft.) is an ornate custom build that was 6 years old when it traded last (2000 build).
It's got on oversized (8700 sq. ft.) corner lot along Herrin.
Back yard has an attractive, custom pool.
This one listed at $3m even, and hung around just 5 weeks before selling for
$2.8m in Aug. 2006.
In 2006, there were
8 other newer East MB homes with square footage in the 4000s that sold between $2.499m and $2.8m.
Top Sales of 2007The crest was higher in '07.
 |
| 1622 Gates |
1622 Gates (6br/5ba, 5080 sq. ft.), on a standard, 7500 sq. ft. lot sold for
$3.1m. Yes, it's out of the 4000-ish sq. ft. range, just over 5000 – maybe a more apt comparison to large 1544 Voorhees than the balance of the 4000-ish houses we'd look at.
The next-highest sale, truly in the 4000s, was at
1602 6th (5br/5ba, 4800 sq. ft.), boasting another oversize corner lot (8700 sq. ft.) on Herrin. That one sold for
$2.830m. You could call 2007's peak dead even with 2006 if you just compare this one with 1603 5th.
In 2007, including 1602 6th, there were
9 East MB homes sold between $2.492m and the number at 1622 Gates, $3.1m.
Top Sales of 2008 |
| 1146 5th |
|
1146 5th (6br/6ba, 4500 sq. ft.) was a brand-new Cape Cod in 2008 that listed ambitiously at $2.799m early in the year.
It still brought home the trophy for 2008 despite some price cuts. Final sale:
$2.580m. This one had a standard 7500 sq. ft. lot and could be called a little close to Sepulveda. It was $250k below the prior year's top price.
In 2008, there were
4 other East MB homes that sold for $2.5m or more.
Top Sales of 2009 That $2.5m mark was not hit in 2009 by any standard-size homes.
 |
| 1510 5th |
|
1510 5th (5br/5ba, 4100 sq. ft.) topped out the sales of 4000-ish, newer houses for the year 2009 at
$2.310m.
That was a little step down from the prior trade of the same house in 2005 at $2.425m. It's a nice block, sunny, south-facing yard – it held value well during a horrid economic time.
We count
11 other newer homes in East MB with square footage in the 4000s that sold for prices ranging from $1.7m-$2.3m, but nothing like them crossed $2.5m.
 |
| 1520 Gates |
1520 Gates (6br/6ba, 6000 sq. ft.) was the
only home in East MB to sell over $2.5m in 2009, clocking in at
$2.625m. It was in a whole new category with extra square footage – including an 1,100 sq. ft. basement.
Now, we ignored anomalous properties like this in prior years, but brought this one into the discussion simply because 2009 saw such huge dropoffs in more "normally" sized big homes on standard-size 7500 sq. ft. lots.
Top Sales of 2010Maybe 2009 was hard, but 2010 saw the bottom drop out.
The highest sale of any kind in 2010 in East MB barely crossed $2m. And that was a foreclosure.
 |
| 1550 8th |
1550 8th (5br/6ba, 4350 sq. ft.) is a newer (2004) Craftsman-inspired build that sold for
$2.035m More than 6 years before, the home had pre-sold during construction, closing in July 2004 for $2.244m.
In 2010, there was only one – a single, solitary one – other sale in all of East MB over $2m.
Funny, there were so many above $2m in prior years, we actually counted from $2.5m up. In 2010, there was almost nothing to count.
Nowadays, consider what a deal these 8th St. buyers got. That's a pretty nice block. Someone is sitting on considerable equity now.
Top Sales of 2011It seems 2011 rhymed with 2010, though with a few more $2m+ sales.
 |
| 1616 Gates |
1616 Gates (5br/6ba, 5100 sq. ft.) had a troubled past; a spec home that emerged in 2008 right as the market was diving. A start price of $2.750m didn't suit the times, and it lingered into 2009, asking as "little" as $2.495m, which became 2010, which became 2011.
After a ton of time on market, 1616 Gates sold for
$2.2m last August, peak for the year. Yes, it was also up above the 4000-ish zone.
There were a total of 4 other $2m+ sales in 2011, but really nothing that properly set the table for 1544 Voorhees to come along this year at $2.6m.
What about 2012?The only comparable sale this year before Voorhees to clock in above $2m was
1629 10th (5br/5ba, 4250 sq. ft.), just edging over the line at
$2.070m.
No, there was nothing pointing to Voorhees coming along $500k+ higher. Now the question is whether it really does pull up the next round of sales, or gets treated as an anomaly.
If you blinked, you may have missed 1544 Voorhees this Spring. 
