February is a time for listings, not closings. Current data underscore that fact.
There were only 5 closings in the first half of February. Could sound scary, until you realize there were only 7 in the same period in both 2017 and 2018.
Why's that? Because an early-February closing was probably a deal made…
February is a time for listings, not closings. Current data underscore that fact.
There were only 5 closings in the first half of February. Could sound scary, until you realize there were only 7 in the same period in both 2017 and 2018.
Why's that? Because an early-February closing was probably a deal made during Christmastime or early in January. Those are rare times of year for real estate activity.
And while inventory is up this year over last (91 vs. 75 at mid-February 2018), it's actually lower than 2017 (93), which turned out to be quite the go-go year.
As luck would have it, Dave had the last closing of January in Manhattan Beach and one of the first of February. (1642 2nd and 18 Sausalito.) We also had a Manhattan Beach client close on a home purchase in a different coastal community south of here. So the first weeks of the year have been busier than might be typical, at least within our office.
Now that the Super Bowl's over, inventory is growing, and after a little pause for Ski Week, we'll really start to see what the Spring market has in store for 2019.
When we look at sales for the first half of February, the big Kahuna is 2105 Agnes (5br/6ba, 4600 sqft.) at $5.400M.
The crisp, stunning 3-level home has a big backyard and a lot of striking features.
It's also, curiously enough, located on a block near the Martyrs school that's dense with modern-style homes. In a beachy community, this is a relatively rare style, especially in the 'burbs, but on this specific block of Agnes there are several.
One is next-door neighbor 2101 Agnes (4br/5ba, 4300 sqft.), which has begun its 6th month on market at the same price: $4.249M. It's not quite as new and was built custom with some particular choices.
You can now imagine the sellers' feeling that the price must be attractive, seeing the next-door home sell for $1M+ more. (Disclosure: Dave has toured clients through 2101 Agnes.)
Meantime there were 15 properties that went into escrow Feb. 1-15. That's a busier rate, right? One per day.
One was a downtown-adjacent remodeled condo in the building at the corner of MB Blvd. and Ardmore, right across from Von's. That's 1118 N. Ardmore (3br/3ba, 1815 sqft.), asking $1.899M.
This was a more realistic pricing strategy than last year's attempt by the next-door neighbor (1116 N. Ardmore), which tried to sell for $2.285M and down to $2.200M, or 22% higher than the most recent, comp, 516 MB Blvd. (3br/2ba, 1925 sqft.) at $1.800M in Aug. 2016.
Also during this period, the long-suffering modern spec new construx at 3208 Pacific (4br/3ba, 3200 sqft.) finally found a buyer after cutting to $2.499M.
A half-lot SFR near downtown, built in 2001 with some views, at 228 9th Place (3br/4ba, 1825 sqft.) sold quickly after listing at $2.899M.
Lastly (for now) we took note of the new deal for 3108 Poinsettia (3br/3ba, 2200 sqft.), one of several homes that we referenced in a blog post about homes that tried to sell in 2018, couldn't, but have found a buyer now in 2019.
Here's the rest of our local real estate market update report for the period ending 2/15/19:
- 91 active listings as of 2/15/19 (+11 from 1/31/19)
- 67 SFRs (+7)
- 24 THs (+4)
See the Inventory list as of 2/15/19 here, or see the MB Dashboard for up-to-the-minute data.
Active listings by region of Manhattan Beach in this report:
- Tree Section: 24 actives (+2)
- Sand Section: 36 actives (+4)
- Hill Section: 6 actives (+1)
- East MB: 25 (-3)
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 2/15/19."
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.