A new deal for a plot of land over at 1427 5th St. is a time to reflect on the rather quick spike in values for land over in the Mira Costa district of East Manhattan.
(1427 5th is listed by Barry Sulpor, Strand Hill Properties.)
And it might be a time to note that the spike is over.
From Summer 2021 through Spring last year, there was a Gold Rush for land to build new.
The area's coveted 7500 sqft. lots (50' x 150') saw a 20%+ rise in value almost overnight.
For the longest time, Mira Costa lots didn't sell over $2.000M.
Then at the end of Summer 2021 came 1541 Voorhees.
Despite this not-so-pretty picture, the plot is actually on a pretty nice block, rising up from Peck and, more or less, the high school football/track stadium. If it's not exactly a view location, it's still a nice spot on the hill.
They began in August '21 asking $2.200M, which might have seemed a little ambitious. No lot had ever sold nearly that high.
But the market had arrived there.
In fact, they did better. The sold price: $2.320M in Sept. 2021.
Notably, the lot directly next door, at 1545 Voorhees, had sold to a developer in Nov. 2019 for $1.700M.
Imagine that: $620K and 36% more less than 2 years later.
Maybe not convinced that values could go higher than $2.3-ish, and maybe not for its location, 1460 11th Street (3br/1ba, 1074 sqft.) came out asking "only" $1.950M one year ago this week.
But as you may recall, the price got run up hugely to $2.401M in March 2022. As a result, this one made our list of high sales of 2022.
(1460 11th was listed by Audrey Judson of Strand Hill Christies International Real Estate.)
Yep, one year ago, East MB land values were riding a hockey stick upwards.
That was the peak price, by $1K, followed closely by 1643 Gates Avenue (3br/2ba, 1074 sqft.) at $2.400M in May 2022. In the same month, 1642 10th Street (2br/1ba, 875 sqft.) got $2.300M.
(1643 Gates was listed by Kristin Moore of RE/MAX ESTATE PROPERTIES, and 1642 10th was listed by Barbi Pappas of Vista Sotheby's International Realty.)
We mention all of this late-2021/early-2022 land-sale activity as context for 1427 5th, which somehow seemed to miss the wave.
Even more oddly, 1427 5th had priced ahead of the market and got stuck before all of this activity took place.
Dial back now to March 2020. (PTSD alert!)
On March 10, 1427 5th came out at $2.100M, significantly higher than any Mira Costa lot had yet sold on the public market.
Within a week, churches, bars, gyms and schools were closed, and we all imagined that the economy at large, and real estate in particular, could crash.
But 1427 5th hung on, never took a break, and sat on the market for a full calendar year, while the world eventually reopened, and reshaped itself.
The real estate market rose, dramatically.
It seemed that the seller could just sense that the $2.100M asking would soon be real.
But they went off the market about 5 months too soon, in March 2021, before everyone started breaking records on lot sales.
Timing is everything.
After the market began decelerating late last year, suddenly, 1427 5th came back.
And once again, they were asking more than market value.
They began at $2.499M in January this year, nearly $100K higher than any comparable lot had sold for, and $399K higher than the price they got stuck at before.
Was this going to be another case of one year of watching the market change all around an unsold listing?
No!
In less than 3 weeks, they cut to $2.225M, and within 2 more weeks, they had a deal.
Now it's possible to view this one in some context.
The quiet, teed-off block of 5th St. where this home is located is one of the best locations of all the Mira Costa lots we've mentioned here. (1541 Voorhees is niiiiice too.)
If they can't break the record of $2.401M, they should still do better than that $2.100M that they were holding out for in 2020-21. And we believe the holding costs over that time were quite minimal.
It should be a nice recovery, all things considered.
We'll see what they get. Even as other lot sales may come and trade over the next year or two, based on location, we'd expect 1427 5th to trade higher than most others we'll see for a while.
So, they missed the peak. There's a rapidly growing club of people who can say that.
Still, the Manhattan Beach real estate market seems to have offered a mulligan, and they'll do just fine.
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.
