High Points of 2012: Sand Section

It's been a year full of activity and occasional frenzies, and there are many more interesting sales to look at as 2012 draws to a close.

We'll look at each of several areas of Manhattan Beach separately, starting with the Sand Section.

Strand Sales

There were 8 sales on The Strand this year, of which 4 were in the $5.2-$5.8m range.

1712 The Strand

Only one was a standout, top-tier, ready-to-go Strand residence: 1712 The Strand (4br/5ba, 3350 sq. ft.). Not incidentally, it also commanded the year's highest Strand price: $10.5m, way back in March.

Notable for different reasons were 2 long-running, hard-to-sell Strand options that did close this year, finally: 2920 The Strand ($9.250m in January), a 4-year-running listing where a remodel project is now getting under way, and 4320 The Strand, a small, old ocean-front duplex on a lot that's not fully half size ($2.2m in October).

Many of this year's Strand offerings and sales were covered in our "Post-Summer Strand Update."

Non-Strand Notables: The 128's

In a curious coincidence, 2 homes built by the same builder and both with the number 128 in the address sold at the top prices in the Sand off the Strand.

128 18th

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. The final price: $5.650m in July.

Selling for more: 128 5th, which sold in June for $5.850m. (See "128 5th Closes Under $6m.") That one's a different case, in that it first sold new in May 2011 for $5.250m, then was fully furnished and customized at very great cost, though never lived in. (See our review from late April.) It hit the market at $6.799m this Spring and came down nearly $1m to sell. 

More Notables

There's no way to capture the whole Sand Section in one brief post, but we'll bump along some additional highlights.

417 34th: $3.230m

New Plateau High: 417 34th (4br/5ba, 4300 sq. ft.) is new construction marking the first Plateau sale over $3m, and healthily so at $3.230m.

France by Way of the South End: Just this week they sold 416 2nd (5br/6ba, 5250 sq. ft.). We raved about this one in September, calling it "a huge labor of love... literally loaded with features and amenities from overseas. Very old stuff, mixed with very new."

The sale was impressive, but $500k short of asking: $3.650m.

Double Sale: A notable surprise in 2012 was seeing 311 32nd, an ocean-view TH, sell not once, but twice. First, for $2.6m in April, then again for $2.8m in early December.

3116 Alma

Old's Cool, and Sold (Cool): 3116 Alma (4br/2ba, 2500 sq. ft.) first drew our notice in November 2007, though it didn't sell then. (See "Old's Cool;" that review is still a good read today.)

This year it sold for $1.875m in May.

South End Bidding Wars: Lot values went mad in the South End, progressively as the year dragged on. As examples, consider 521 2nd (multiple offers, won by Dave's clients at $1.370m in May), 413 7th on a flat family walkstreet (multiples, off-market, $1.982m), 512 4th (15 offers, $1.625m in November). 

Those last 2 sales suggest a 20%+ premium for a flat walkstreet location – sounds about right to these ears.

Early Indicator: 221 30th (5br/5ba, 4550 sq. ft.) sold quickly early in the year, and — in retrospect — may have been one of the harbingers of the year's warm-to-hot market.

It's a big, late-90s custom build with some pretty great views currently. (See our review from February.) It lasted all of 4 DOM in February, and closed within 2% of asking at $3.350m.