One reason 2022 ended with so many fewer home sales in Manhattan Beach than normal is because there were so many fewer homes offered for sale than normal.
It was a chronic inventory crunch all year, the result of a downtrend in offerings that initially took hold in Q4 2021.
At this same time last year, home shoppers were looking at a grand total of 26 offerings. Whole parts of the city were dark, bereft of home options for buyers.
This year is starting out a little better. We had almost twice last year's inventory, with 49, as of our Feb. 15 cutoff for this market update.
You can also look at our chart up above and say this year's inventory is a shadow of what's been available in other recent years. You'd be right! But 55-60% of normal is better than whatever that was last year.
There are still whole categories of homes with almost no inventory: Tree Section and East Manhattan 4+ bedroom homes, for instance, are scarce, and the inventory that is out there is atypical. (One that quickly went into escrow this month, 769 29th, requires a complete head-to-toe remodel, and was asking $3.799M.)
The experts tell us to expect another low-inventory year, with so many homeowners locked into ultra-low interest rates thanks to refis, and not loving the new rates they'd pay if they wished to upgrade or change homes for any reason.
So we'll see. It's all relative, right?
Early in the year, we're all stuck looking for "signs." We know what the "experts" are saying, we have a good sense of what buyers and sellers anticipate for the year, but how will the year play out?
Our last market update chronicled a sudden, late cluster of new deals made in late January and early February. (See "Action at the Buzzer - MB Market Update for 1/31/23.") That seemed a bullish sign!
Well, that turned out not to be a trend that continued. We recorded only 5 new escrows opening in Manhattan Beach from Feb. 1-15.
The Spring selling season traditionally takes off right after the Super Bowl, and here we are. There is definitely a nice influx of Sand Section homes coming out, something new in the Hill Section, and a little more here and there.
Recovery is one step at a time...
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Here's the rest of our local real estate market update report for the period ending 2/15/23:
> 49 active listings as of 2/15/23 (+2 from 1/31/23)
> 35 SFRs (+1)
> 14 THs (+1)
See the Inventory list as of 2/15/23 here, or see the MB Dashboard for up-to-the-minute data.
Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach in this report:
> Tree Section: 6 actives (flat)
> Sand Section: 27 actives (+4)
> Hill Section: 8 actives (-1)
> East MB: 8 (-1)
We're also providing a report on closed sales by region of MB
Sales data, including PPSF for all properties, are organized by sub-region of Manhattan Beach.
Here's a link to the spreadsheet: "MB Pending/Sold as of 2/15/23".
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.
