recent sales

Not everyone is getting more today for a property than they might have in, say, 2014 or 2015. If the Manhattan Beach real estate market hasn't turned, its upward momentum has at least paused for a bit.

But for the folks who purchased a lot to build on in the Tree Section near town, at 1800 N. Ardmore, there was a modest profit to be made on a 2014 acquisition.

The big lot, a bit over 6500 sqft. on a rising corner, will make for a nifty building site, with the park, greenbelt and downtown all nearby.

The most recent owners went to the trouble of designing a slick, modern new home with a pool in the "front" yard along Ardmore. Or, as the listing put it more precisely, the sale came with:

"fully approved and permitted plans for a 6-bedroom, 5200 square…

"Thar's gold in them thar... sand dunes."

Such has been the sentiment of flippers targeting Manhattan Beach during our years-long rise in real estate values.

Some recent sales show that flippers have continued to find it profitable to make deals on old, dated properties, then turn them back out, refreshed and modernized. Here are some recent sales and new escrows on flipper remodels:

1713 Lynngrove (3br/2ba, 1500 sqft.) is a Liberty Village cottage that's the latest flip to open escrow.

Redone inside with bright "California Coastal" style, this one is as good an example of currently trending design choices as any: wide-plank oak floors, white marble counters ("Carrera," d'oh!), a seemingly timeless beach-modern color palette of pale blue & teal for

If you, too, were skeptical about a Manhattan Beach Blvd. condo facing the street getting almost $2M, raise your hand.

Yet they've pulled off exactly that. Last week, 516 MB Blvd. closed for $1.800M.

There's no shame in saying, "Didn't see that coming."

The 8-unit complex right at the corner with downtown was completed in 2002 and there haven't been many trades there since. The last two sales in the building were like ancient history:

1118 N. Ardmore (3br/3ba, 1815 sqft.), radically remodeled before sale, went for $1.485M in Aug. 2012. That was pretty much right as the local real estate market began to take flight in the current upcycle.

1116 N. Ardmore (3br/3ba, 1815 sqft.), looking pretty original to the 2002 build, had sold for $1.285M just a few

Dear reader, how often do you write down your predictions?

Two months ago, as Summer dawned, here at MBC we suggested that MB real estate inventory could only go up for the next couple months. The citywide number of homes for sale had just hit 131, another recent high. We printed the following Q&A:

     Q: Do you think it will go higher?

     A: It's Summer. It's got to go up. The current higher-inventory trend began in August last year.

And for two solid weeks, we were right. Soon, inventory was at 141.

Then, as you see in our chart here, the bottom fell out of local inventory... almost literally, as most sales that drained the market have been under $2M.

So there are two ways to look at that very notable two-month downtrend.

One: Thanks to sales,…