Did you look up in the sky at all during May?
It was cloudy, cool and kind of hard to even note the passage of time.
Our local real estate market was a bit cool and murky as well.
The second half of the month saw only 8 new contracts written on properties, notching in May as significantly the slowest of the past 11 years for new pending sales, with just 27.
The month could have been a real downer if not for East Manhattan's hearty contribution of 13 of those new deals, 10 in the first half of May alone.
Still, among the homes going into escrow, it was quite an interesting mix. Since there were only 8, we can talk about them all real quickly here.
100-Block Walkstreet Properties
133 6th (6br/7ba, 4596 sqft.) is a top-of-the-walkstreet SFR with a small guest unit in back.
The spacious, red-brick front walkstreet patio is a standout feature, practically requiring the owner to spend much time out front entertaining and greeting neighbors and passersby. (It's a life!)
But there are also two floors' worth of ocean views from inside, plenty of nice updates, and something rare: A view of the Manhattan Beach Pier from the primary bedroom.
When they started out at $10.500M in March, you could tell they were reaching a bit. But how much? The list price later came down 5% ($525K) to $9.975M – which sure looks a lot like $10M, still.
That was close enough to right. Maybe it took a while – 73 DOM in fact – but they've got a buyer now.
133 6th is listed by Robert Lane, Vista Sotheby's International Realty.
124 2nd (3br/2ba, 1750 sqft.) really took a while to find its buyer.
But they also knew what they had here, and held pretty close to the asking price range.
Launched at $6.875M last August, the listing was down 8% (-$580K) to $6.295M.
After 9 months, a buyer was in the fold.
Both of these 100-block deals invite a comparison back to a May 15 sale – just barely, technically outside the scope of this set of market update spreadsheets – on a land-value sale at yet another 100-block walkstreet location: 133 16th. That one came out at $5.699M on May 11 and was in escrow in just a few days.
124 2nd is listed by Bryn Stroyke, Bayside.
A Strand House... Or Two
At 3404 The Strand (8br/8ba, 5568 sqft.), there's something basically unlike we've seen. It's two separate structures, one on the oceanfront and one in back raised up ultra-high, with views over the front unit.
The offering basically begs you to figure out all you could do with it. Which one to live in, which to rent out? Or give to family members?
We've always found this place interesting, including way back in 2009 when it was last on the market (pre-remodel).
This was actually the third listing in a year. In the business, we tend to say it's great to be the third agent; they usually seem to be the ones that sell a listing that's had challenges.
First asking price in April 2022: $14.995M.
Last asking price in May 2023: $11.499M. Deal.
3404 The Strand is listed by Ben Belack, The Agency.
No Longer Stuck in the Hill Section
Speaking of third agents selling stuck listings...
513 N. Dianthus (3br/3ba, 2770 sqft.) finally has a deal.
As we noted in a blog post in April, it's been pretty much continuously offered for sale since August 2022, at prices cascading down from $3.600M to $3.199M. That last, lowest price is actually $1K less than the owner paid in April 2022. And that was before some cosmetic remodeling. (Oops.)
The market dropped, the listing sat, and then the market came back, and it still sat, but after 7 weeks with a new rep, the house is getting ready for new owners.
513 N. Dianthus is listed by John Corrales, Compass.
Tree Section Inventory
Nothing, really nothing, seems to hang around in the Tree Section, so it wasn't shocking to see the remodeled early-90s house at 2613 Walnut (4br/4ba, 3108 sqft.) make a deal in 8 days.
The asking price of $3.299M, with almost no competition on the market, sorta seemed low to us, but we'll have to wait just a bit to see what buyers thought.
2613 Walnut is listed by Hannah Mills of 3 Leaf Realty Inc.
A 3-Pack in East Manhattan
New deals in East Manhattan ran the full gamut:
Major fixer: 1256 2nd (4br/3ba, 2352 sqft.), asking $2.100M.
Full, fresh remodel: 1220 9th (4br/3ba, 3085 sqft.), asking $3.495M.
New construction: 1228 23rd (5br/6ba, 3478 sqft.), asking $3.949M.
(Each of these East Manhattan listings was presented by a different agent and brokerage; please follow the link from the address for more detail.)
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Here's the rest of our local real estate market update report for the period ending 5/31/23:
> 57 active listings as of 5/31/23 (-1 from 5/15/23)
> 47 SFRs (-1)
> 11 THs (flat)
See the Inventory list as of 5/31/23 here, or see the MB Dashboard for up-to-the-minute data.
Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach in this report:
> Tree Section: 14 actives (+4)
> Sand Section: 24 actives (-1)
> Hill Section: 11 actives (flat)
> East MB: 8 actives (-4)
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 5/31/23".
