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A weird thing to see in a rising market is the phenomenon of short-term holds that are profitable upon resale.

We already noted last month that the midsized house on a half lot at 1560 10th got 10% more than the 2013 price in a resale that closed just 11 months after acquisition. (See this post.)

But that resale, at $1.479M, was practically a lower-tier sale.

Now comes the corner-lot Tuscan at 1603 5th (5br/5ba, 4700 sq. ft.) at pretty much the highest tier for a conventional home in East MB, with a new sale at $2.850M.

Scratching at 3 already?

Why, just last year, in April 2013, the same home sold for $2.575M.

So they didn't really need to worry about whatever led to such a quick exit. (We're not prying.) Ordinarily, you'd think any profit upon…

No one buys a house to live in it for a year. Or for 11 months.

And if circumstances require a quick resale shortly after you've unpacked, expect to lose some money. Transaction costs can be killer.

Unless you're lucky, and it's 2014.

That's the happy ending at 1560 10th St. (4br/3ba, 2400 sq. ft.), a dollhouse of a remodel on a half lot in East MB.

This one emerged first last year, back in June 2013, asking $1.389M.

That was just a little high, and it closed in early August for $1.349M.

By April this year, it was back (call it 8 months later), asking $1.479M. 

They made a quick deal, but it flopped and the property dropped off the MLS a while before popping back up. A new deal posted in late May.

Just before July 4, they closed for that asking…

It's just what's in the air now, it seems.

With the closing Tuesday of the sale at 801 11th (4br/3ba, 3035 sq. ft.) at $1.930M, we see another sale at a big markup to a 2010 acquisition price.

2010 wasn't so long ago, folks.

But back then, late in the year (call it 3 1/2 years ago), someone grabbed the custom Mediterranean at 801 11th for $1.380M.

The resale now comes at a markup of $550K over that last market sale, a solid 40% above the same home's value in a different market.

Is the Manhattan Beach real estate market really up 40% in just 3-4 years? Well, the market for this home is.

And in last week's "To Have a Time Machine" post, we pointed to one resale that nabbed 28% more than a 2010 price, another seeking 36% more and a third that sold last

If you could travel back in time, one choice you might want to make is to dial the date back to 2010 or so and buy some Manhattan Beach real estate.

We saw, for instance, how, with the market's recent upslope, it was possible now for the sellers of the ocean-view SFR at 3316 Crest to trade out of a 2010 purchase for a tidy 28% markup.

In context, today, there's nothing outlandish about getting a 4br/4ba, 2100 sq. ft. remodel with killer ocean panoramas for $2.160M, as the buyers just did.

It's just that, 4 years ago, when it seemed buyers were more reluctant, the same property sold for $1.685M, or $475K less.

Or we can look at one of this week's new listings.

2812 Elm (4br/4ba, 2875 sq. ft.) has traded off and on over the past decade – three times, to