High/Low Prices of 2010, Sand

We continue our look at 2010 sales by section with a review of the Sand. (Here's our Hill review for 2010.)

It was a busy year by the beach, despite the "bummer Summer" with its persistent fogs and cool temps. (The 75 SFR sales in the Sand gently beat out 2009's total of 73.)

For comparisons of the high/low sales, take a look back at our 2009 update on the Sand, or our 2008 review of all areas west of Sepulveda.


Sand Section – Strand Division

There's no avoiding it: Strand homes always sell for more because the dirt's that much more valuable. So we'll look at Strand properties first, then others in the Sand section.

Highest Price: 1200 The Strand (5br/5ba, 4250 sq. ft.) was not only the priciest sale in MB in 2010 at $7.5m, it actually ranked as the priciest sale in all of the South Bay in 2010. (For more on regionwide sales, see our newest South Bay Confidential column from Saturday's Daily Breeze.)

Top sale in the South Bay is quite a designation for 1200 The Strand, but unfortunately the property's a bit of a letdown. We last described it here as "a Spanish with a few challenges." In the Breeze, we noted:

[It's] too close to downtown, the pier and the beach crowds for some buyers. The home's also quite imperfect, with an awkward layout and a 1980s remodel that needs updating. 

MBC called attention to 1200 in mid-March because the listing had chopped $2.250m at once from $10.7m, bringing the price to $8.450m. It later cut to $7.999m and made a deal at $7.5m.

But even if they did have to lower their sights by $3.2m, the sellers still carried home the gold for 2010.

Honorable Mention: 112 The Strand (3br/4ba, 4300 sq. ft.) recently closed for $7.334m.

The home sports a late-80s build date and needs some updating, but this location in the quiet South End seems preferable, all things considered, to that of our top honoree.

It's in an area of MB that's great and getting much, much better, with the nearby triple-lot home at 212 The Strand (see "Big, Beautiful, Too Much?") and plenty of other new construction nearby under way or recently complete.

Perspective Time: As impressive as these Strand sales were, they did not hold a candle to last year's crop:

• 204 & 208 The Strand were 2 lots sold to be joined for a new-construction project that's currently under way. Combined sale prices: $12.8m.

• 1800 The Strand (5br/6ba, 5325 sq. ft.) is a south-facing corner-lot home that was the biggest SFR sale last year. Sold in August 2009 for $11.65m.

• 1712 The Strand (3br/4ba, 4500 sq. ft. was new construction that sold for $9.0m last year.

Sand Section – Non-Strand Division

2009 was awkward for new construction everywhere, but the Sand did OK with not one, but 2 sales of new construction for $4.9m: a Cape Cod at 224 7th and a modern at 128 9th. Those were the highest-priced deals of the year.

This year, that mark was eclipsed twice.

Highest Price: 121 9th (4br/5ba, 4200 sq. ft.) hasn't posted to the MLS or public records yet, but it's our award winner for 2010 nonetheless, with a sale at $6.2m. (See MBC's "New High-Water Mark Near Downtown" from early December.)

It's a modern that was developed as a spec home and purchased before completed. Indeed, while the sale price includes completion costs by the builders, the buyer intends to add upgrades, which will at least increase the investment beyond that precious point.

Note that the neighbor just up the block was one of last year's co-winners of the "highest price" designation.

Honorable Mentions: 216 7th (4br/5ba, 4800 sq. ft.) is an unusual new home decked out to an extreme in Tuscan detail that we've called both "comprehensive" and "voluptuous." It's a style that is polarizing and clearly not for everyone.

That said, it's got a great corner lot on Bayview and plenty of space and extras to write home about. (For more see our June 2009 review here.)

The listing began near $6.5m, but settled this past July at $5.025m.

Worth noting: This one, just like this year's top honoree in the non-Strand division, is also a nearby neighbor of one of the 2 co-winners from last year – 224 7th, in this case, is just 2 doors up the block. Want to make next year's list? Buy or sell on 7th or 9th.

A third new home to sell in 2010 was 228 31st (4br/4ba, 3925 sq. ft.) (pictured), a modern up in El Norte, which garnered $3.8m. Redfin isn't showing much about the past listing now, but we might point you to "A Beginning and An End on 31st" for a little more.

There were 2 resales this year priced a bit higher than 31st:

• 124 3rd (6br/6ba, 4650 sq. ft.), a mid-90s home that's been split into a duplex, sold for $4.030m; and

• 204 19th (4br/4ba, 4260 sq. ft.) sold for $3.9m, down $1.1m from 2006 (see "Way Lowe-r").

Lowest Price: 3408 Crest (2br/2ba, 1100 sq. ft.) appears to be on a half-size, or even slightly smaller, lot. (The MLS entry doesn't provide lot area.) It's bordered by 2 alleys.

With a sale at $810k (a shortie), this one looks something like one of last year's 2 (tied) lowest-price winners, 201 44th in El Porto Norte, which sold for just $11k less.

The early-40s home on Crest is called "darling" in the listing, but it did run several months in dropping from $1.050m to that sale price, an $80k rewind from acquisition in Sept. 2005.

Honorable Mention: 532 5th Place (2br/2ba, 900 sq. ft.) is also on a half lot on an alley – this tells you something about what it takes to earn the "lowest price" crown in MB's Sand – though on balance the location is far superior. The home's near the South End walkstreets and puts you moments from downtown and the beach.

The tiny house, with a 1930s original plus a quirky add-on, was a real project when it was last offered in 2005. It sold in Jan. 2006 for $923k, in need of work. The folks who sold it this year for quite a bit less – $835k – wound up forfeiting nearly $100k in equity and donating the costs of their remodeling work to the new owners. To their credit, it would appear, they didn't stuff the lender with their losses.