The Manhattan Beach Hill Section is the prestige area where buyers expect to find larger lots and, in some cases, ocean views. Prices tend to be the highest for what you get within the 90266.
Only 2 homes in the Hill Section sold under $2.000M in 2020 (one lot sale and a condo), while 13 sold for $4.000M or more. That was out of 35 total sales.
Here are the biggest sales by category.
Resale Division
704 Pacific (6br/7ba, 5200 sqft.)
Sale price: $11.000M
This home is a unique ultramodern remodel with views. This stretch of Pacific Ave. is among the most prestigious blocks in the Hill Section, and Manhattan Beach in general. Just a few doors down, there was a $20M sale of a triple-lot home at 814 Pacific Ave. (6br/6ba, 10,000 sqft.) in 2017.
This property at 704 is effectively 2 structures, with the main home in front on Pacific, a yard with pool, then the rear structure with garage, den and home office. That office has one of the best views that you're likely to find, tucked way high up the hill near its peak, with nothing in front.
You can take a 2-minute video tour here. (Volume off, unless you like the sort of airy/jazzy synth music that is typical of real estate videos.)
It's fun to look back at the original structure.
Back in April 2012 when it last sold, the late-90s original home was only 15 years old.
It was built in a "center hall Colonial" style that the market seemed to deem to be too frumpy and too tragic a waste of the property's considerable view potential.
The redo barely kept some of the structure's outlines while opening it up, putting in tons of glass and going in a modern direction.
The redo was also just one of the leading edges of a trend in the Hill Section, where land got so valuable so quickly, even relatively new houses (15 years!) have become bulldozer bait.
In 2012, the property required 300+ DOM to find a buyer (at $4.250M), but in 2020, only 11 DOM elapsed before a cash buyer plunked down $11.000M.
852 8th (5br/6ba, 4700 sqft.)
Sale price: $6.200M
This home is what a lot of people looking on the MB Hill say they want: A newer, elegant, beachy style home with plenty of space and ocean views.
This one was built in '08 but, due to market conditions at the time, didn't actually sell for the first time until a few years after. Fortunately, it was both luxurious in its original version and extraordinarily well-maintained and upgraded here and there. By 2020, it was ready for the right new owners.
For the buyers, Dave's clients, the home was the end result of a years-long search together that required patience and dedication on both sides, after some almosts and maybes.
And after all that waiting, we had to move extremely quickly, because - as noted above - the home is what many people say they are looking for. We got an offer in right as the property went to market, narrowly beating others to the punch.
It was an honor to see these clients through to the fulfillment of their longtime wishes.
New Construction Division
936 8th (7br/8ba, 6700 sqft.)
Sale price: $6.986M
This is modern style new construction on a corner lot at Anderson/8th St.
The lot is not especially huge (6500 sqft.), but thanks to the slope of the lot, an oversized "basement" area feels much like a flat-out 3rd level, with plenty of light in the family room/media room area. You can still take a 3D tour here.
They did launch pretty high at $8.000M, but corrected and sold within 2 months.
Off-Market Division
Last year, our Hill Section summary missed a prominent off-market sale. While we don't often point to non-MLS-reported off-market sales, because you can never know all the circumstances, we found a couple trades worth reporting this year.
946 9th (6br/6ba, 4300 sqft.)
Sale price: $4.100M
This is a 2002-built Mediterranean on a 7250 sqft. lot, meaning it boasts a pretty substantial backyard.
Last sold in 2010 for $2.685M, showing at the time pretty much typical style for 2000s Mediterraneans.
On an unusually busy year for the 900 block of 9th St., this was the least-pricey sale. Two other market sales were higher (and somewhat larger homes): 916 9th (5br/5ba, 4700 sqft.) at $4.433M and 906 9th (6br/7ba, 5425 sqft.) at $4.650M.
818 6th (5br/5ba, 4120 sqft.)
Sale price: $4.000M
This is a 1980s Mediterranean on a corner along an alley (Pacific Place) just between John and Pacific. The southward slope and alley with no immediate neighbor give the property some very favorable views.
The timing of the sale was notable: Just two weeks after neighboring 822 6th sold in March (for $3.575M).
Both 818 and 822 feature unusually narrow, 35' wide lots that go back nearly 150' with simply tremendous views. They'd be great combined for a new mega build. While the new owners for each property are both newly registered LLCs, there appears to be no overlap in the entities, and we have no information yet that such a combination is in the cards.