Not too long ago – heck, it was exactly 2 weeks ago – we were wishing for more sales data to analyze.
What a difference a few days makes. There were 11 new sales that closed in Manhattan Beach in the first 2 weeks of March. Let's take a look at them by category – got asking price, over asking, under asking.
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Please Note: The properties below were listed and brokered by a variety of agents and firms, not Dave Fratello or Edge, unless noted. Click on any image or linked address for full details, including the name of the listing broker and agent for each linked property.
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Got Asking Price (4)
Two public-market sales and two off-market sales fit in this category.
(Arguably, off-market sales never had an asking price at all, but when the sale posts, it's certainly not less than or more than the public asking price, so we list them here.)
120 36th Place (3br/2ba, 1260 sqft.) is a 1920s duplex that had a very thorough modernization just before marketing.
Because 36th Place is a tad south of Rosecrans, this property technically is not in El Porto, although it sure resembles the housing stock of the Porto district more than most areas south of Rosecrans.
Asking $2.500M, they got it, every dime.
If this one were in El Porto, it would be record for comparable properties in the district, edging out 212 41st, a crisply updated 1940s SFR that sold for $2.360M in May 2022.
The number is a bit remarkable because the house is fully split into a duplex, with a purpose-built 1br unit downstairs, with its own entrance, and the 2br upstairs, where one lacked a closet during our visit, and the stairway approach was, well, tight. But as tricked-out little beach houses go, it was a plus property.
Oh, except for the minus.
The air rights over this property were purchased by the neighbor to the east. We were told there's a deed restriction preventing a 3rd story from being built that would block that neighbor's views. So, 2 stories is it. That functions as a limitation on long-term value.
120 36th Place was listed by Robert Freedman, Domo Real Estate.
3109 Walnut (3br/3ba, 1987 sqft.) is a 1950s original, lightly upgraded in a couple of spots but showing as rental-grade, wanting major updates.
There's undeniable charm to the midsized house, but we heard more than one agent speculate that it was too much work to convert the house and could be a teardown.
At $2.800M (ok, $1K over asking), we've already said, "That's too high for a pure land sale, and a big starting point before you consider costs of redoing the house."
3109 Walnut was listed by Will Joseph of Joseph Group.
1013 10th St. (7500 sqft. lot)
This full-size lot sale closed for $2.385M.
This property's in the last block of the Hill Section before Sepulveda.
It happens to get quite a bit more car traffic than most Hill Section blocks, due to the presence of the post office and one of the area's more popular little strip malls right at Sepulveda.
1013 10th was listed by Joe Nuzzolo of Thompson Team Real Estate, Inc.
760 33rd (4br/4ba, 2884 sqft.) was a flipper remodel.
There's a spectrum for flippers and flipping, and we've seen the work by this group recently as being quite a degree above what might be viewed as the norm. These aren't quickie cosmetic deals, they're carefully done to a modern standard.
And that's why buyers just had to have this sub-3000 sqft. remodel for $4.000M. The sale was arranged while work was still under way.
760 33rd was listed by Tony Barberi, Vista Sotheby’s International Realty.
Got More Than Asking Price (2)
1330 8th (4br/2ba, 2200 sqft.) is a midsized home that sports an official build date in the 1950s, but really had the look of a 1980s custom remodel.
We assumed that most buyers would want to give the home a stylistic once-over.
We also assumed that the start price of $2.150M for a livable, 4br home with a full 7500 sqft. lot was a "come hither" price meant to draw immediate action.
The sale price was $200K higher at $2.350M.
1330 8th St. was listed by Randolph Leaf of eXp Realty of California Inc.
1130 2nd (3br/2ba, 1540 sqft., 7875 sqft. lot)
Check out East Manhattan and the overbids!
This property was listed at $1.879M and drew offers in a week, closing at $1.950M.
The lot is slightly oversized for the Mira Costa district, but that can be misleading. It's got a 75' frontage on (busy) 2nd St., and with the required front setback, even a new house will have a lot of front yard and maybe not so much back. (The lot is 75' x 100').
1130 2nd was listed by Jesse Dougherty, Compass.
Got Less Than Asking Price (5)
210 Larsson (3br/2ba, 1340 sqft.) might be the biggest surprise among those getting less than asking price.
The little cottage with large kitchen drew multiple offers within 3 days, early in the season, with a list price at $1.985M.
But they closed at $1.900M.
It coulda gone either way. It went down 4% from asking.
3408 Maple (5br/6ba, 3620 sqft.) getting less than asking was not at all a surprise.
This Tree Section new construction home emerged in July 2022 asking $4.600M, a super prime price for the Trees at a time when the bottom was coming out from under the market.
They made a cut in August and re-listed in October at $3.989M. It went in and out of escrow twice. There was another cut in December, then a deal made in January.
The final sale price: $3.820M, 17% below that ambitious Summertime start price.
3316 Vista (4br/3ba, 2156 sqft.) is a corner-lot home up on the plateau in the Sand Section.
It's got a full lot running along the alley street (Vista), but only 2 stories in an area where 3 stories are allowed and typical.
No worries: They were selling with plans for a new 3-story house.
Also, the sellers had just completed a cosmetic remodel, ending with 2 spiffy units with some income potential.
The listing began at $3.295M in Oct. 2022, but it has closed for $2.800M, a figure that's quite a bit closer to its 2021 acquisition price ($2.515M, +$285K) than to its initial asking price after the remodel (-$495K).
3316 Vista was listed by Carissa Wright, Coastal Legacy Realty Group.
769 29th (5br/4ba, 4457 sqft.) is destined to be a head-to-toe remodel, the 1989 home having been stripped to the bone to show it for market this year.
Asking $3.799M, the home very quickly accepted an offer (5 DOM), but closed $149K lower at $3.650M.
769 29th was listed by Darrin O'Hanlon, Strand Hill Properties.
461 35th (3br/1ba, 1034 sqft.) qualifies as the least surprising among these 5 listings to have sold under asking price.
Out of the blocks, it was listed remarkably high at $2.999M in May 2022.
It took 6 months and 5 cuts to reach $2.199M, the price where it has now closed (-$800K from start).
461 35th was listed by John Corrales, Compass.
Quick Observations from These Sales
Six of these 11 sales got asking price or more, and all represent properties that were only marketed within this calendar year. (We do include the two off-market sales.)
Two of the 5 sales going under asking also were marked within this calendar year, and actually made their deals quickly. The buyers came close on price, but paid less.
The only 3 out of 11 sales that got a lot less than asking (-$495K, -$780K and -$800K) all had begun in 2022 and got stuck.
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Here's the rest of our local real estate market update report for the period ending 3/15/23:
> 56 active listings as of 3/15/23 (+5 from 2/28/23)
> 42 SFRs (+5)
> 14 THs (flat)
See the Inventory list as of 3/15/23 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 (-1)
> Hill Section: 8 actives (-1)
> East MB: 15 (+7)
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 3/15/23".
