MB Market Update for 3/31/08, Sand

This is the second story of 3 detailing market activity west of Sepulveda in the second half of March. Click to download the complete 3/31/08 spreadsheets (slightly revised), or, any time, use the link in the upper-right corner of the front page.

There were 32 active SFRs in the Sand Section as of March 31.

As we noted in two stories in the last few days, there's higher inventory in MB west of Sepulveda these days, in part because of a burst of new listings. You could almost say that the engine driving that new listing activity is the Sand Section.

There were 9 new listings in the Sand Section in this 2-week period. Of these, one (456 27th) canceled quickly and another (2312 Grandview) sold quickly. We can't say a lot about every one of the others, but there is a clear headliner:

Errol Flynn's former residence (circa 1934) at 3421 Manhattan Ave. has been massively renovated. Indeed, it carries a 2002 construction date.

Though the exterior boasts an aggressive art deco style, we don't know that it much resembles the home Mr. Flynn was in. We're hoping to cover the history in more detail in a separate story.

The Flynn home has 4br/4ba and 4200 sq. ft. on a 2700 sq. ft. lot. (The western part of the building appears to go right up to the edge of the property line; no setback.) It starts at $6.499m.

Also up at the high end – but down at the South End – 132 2nd (2nd/Manhattan Ave.) is seeking $6m for a similarly sized home (4br/6ba, 4300 sq. ft.) that is just super, and yet in a more conventional way.

Rounding out new offerings in the $3m+ range are 400 3rd (pictured), a lovely shingled beach home in a quiet part of the South End – also Mrs. MBC's favorite of the month, hands-down, starting at $3.499m; 425 26th, a stylish new "Asian contemporary" home starting at $3.75m (no pics in the listing yet); and 341 10th, a walkstreet home very near downtown that's stylish (nice woodwork) but also a bit broken up – only 2400 of the 3150 sq. ft. are in the main house; the rest is part of a less-improved, attached rental unit – the whole package starts at $3.3m.

There's a new listing near one of MBC's "Great Streets" – 309 18th, which starts at $2.399m, and is just across Highland from one of our favorite blocks in town. It's one updated main house (built 1964) and a second 1br rental.

225 Homer is a sleek contemporary (circa 1992) with big-time ocean views. It offers 3br/4ba and 2300 sq. ft. for $2.3m. Recall that nearby 207 Homer (3br/3ba, 1800 sq. ft. and kind of musty) went quickly last month at $1.779m.

There were 3 sales (new escrows) in this period that stuck:

• 3200 Alma (pictured), a classic, older and smallish (3br/2ba, 1500 sq. ft.) Spanish home that lasted 9 days at $1.899m, somewhat to MBC's amazement. We liked it, but couldn't quite fathom the price (see our story, rooted to a pricing poll, which was pulled when the property sold so quickly) – frankly, we prefer larger 445 30th at $1.999m;

• 228 31st seemed to be trolling for lot value on a walkstreet west of Highland, and found a buyer after dropping from $2.599m in early January to $2.199m recently; and

• 2312 Grandview, another very quick sale – this one, tucked away in the gaslight area, sought $1.5m even for a a 5br/3ba, 2000 sq. ft. house, though the listing pitched the lot value only.

Meanwhile, a pending sale posted at 329 10th Pl., but canceled – until we've got the details straight, we reclassified that listing as active.

Just a few listings took cuts, most prominently 228 29th Place, a "wow" contemporary on which the price cuts also now merit a "wow" – $3.049m last year, now down to $2.499m (-$550k/-18%).

Finally, there were 2 closed sales in this period:

• 523 Marine, held just about 18 months by the seller, sold for $1.340m, just $30k higher than the Sept. 2006 purchase price (see "Great Escape"); and

• 200 19th (pictured), a glorious new home on an ocean-view walkstreet west of Highland, got $5.6m, shaving off just a sliver (-$249k/-4%) from the start price in a sale that happened in barely more than a month on the market.