overbids

Neighbor fights can become nasty. The sale of a couple plots of land needs not get too rough, though.

Two next-door neighbors in Manhattan Beach's Hill Section were on the market side-by-side for a time there, with a victor now emerging.

One took the approach of overpricing and trying to make the market come to them.

That was 500 Pacific. It's a big Hill Section corner lot (11,400 sqft.) with views over wide 5th St. and over homes to the southwest.

From the top rear corner of this lot, a new home should have views of greenbelt treetops, Sand Section rooftops, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and a goodly line of blue from the Pacific.

What a commodity! A big parcel of scarce land in a prestige location with views!

In October, they listed at $6.825M. It was

Take a half lot in sight of downtown and featuring plenty of traffic... what's that worth?

In the case of 209 15th, the answer is $2.401M.

That's a $102K overbid over the list price of $2.299M.

We went looking for comps. Uh-oh, the market seems to have found a way to carve out a new category-specific high with this sale. 

Half lot, west of Highland: $2.4M.

The smallish, 2-story house here (3br/2ba, 1275) is dated and you have to say the bulk of the value is in the land, all 1345 sqft. of that plot.

We can't find a like sale that's even close. $1.7? $1.9? $2.1? Nothing.

There is one very big number from last year that arguably beats the sale at 209 15th: 2401 Manhattan Ave. has a walkstreet frontage and the feel of a 100-block house, albeit with one

Prime lots in the Tree Section have been hitting $2M and a touch above.

It was only a matter of time before the American Martyrs area asserted itself (again) with an even higher high.

Now the sale of 608 14th has done exactly that.

The dated, 4br, 3000-ish sqft. house is fine, but it's the 5800 sqft. plot of land that's got the real value here.

Specifically, the market said: $2.950M. The sale closed this week.

Call it the American Martyrs neighborhood's first $3-million-dollar lot.

As the listing launched 5 weeks ago in June, they weren't necessarily pushing the ceiling too high. The asking price was $2.7M.

But competition and must-have properties means new, ever-higher prices must be paid.

We can't really find anything like 608 14th in very recent…

To judge by the most recent closed sales come in, you'd think no one knows how to price a house anymore.

We've seen markets where nearly every listing price seemed to be an overreach. Today, start prices seem to be literally just the starting points. Consider these very recent closings:

 510 23rd (4br/4ba, 3200 sq. ft.) is a 2009-built Spanish in the gaslamp district.

Start Price: $2.699M

Sold Price: $2.826M

Amount Over Asking: +$127K / +4%

Note: That result was different from when the same home debuted back in 2008-09. It ran 7 months on market and sold for 16% under the asking price way-back-when, the year your kindergartner was born.

1901 Lynngrove (3br/1ba, 1100 sq. ft.) is a mostly original corner-lot cottage in Liberty Village. The home has