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Sold Over Asking! Um, No, Under?

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by Dave Fratello

A new closed sale marks the end of a long saga of attempted sales – interrupted by rentals – on a new construction home.

724 13th Street, Manhattan Beach, At 724 13th (6br/7ba, 4844 sqft.), it simply took a (long) while for the market to catch up to the target price that the builder put on it.

With a brand-new home in hand, the builder asked $5.495M. 

That was in August 2019, which, looking back, was approximately the time when the dinosaurs were hit by a comet.

Oh, check, no, it wasn't quite that long ago.

But it was a ways back, and a long listing then: 382 DOM. It ended with a lower price: $4.995M. 

Before we fill in the interim action on the listing, we'll rocket straight to now. 

They've just closed a sale at $5.650M.

Over asking price!

After 6+ years!

Oh... but...

Of course, the market rose over this span of time, by quite a bit!

Seeing that, the latest listing, which began Feb. 21, 2025, was much higher. It started at $6.495M.

The last asking price was $5.999M, since October 2025. 

So, a sale at $5.650M is actually a sale under asking. Heck, it's 13% under last year's start, at a time when some listings are selling 13% over asking. 

The builder/owner had generated some income over the years, operating the home as a rental, so it's not like this property was a money suck. Zillow still shows one prior listing at $19,500/mo. (No rental listings appear to have been posted on the MLS.)

The story is interesting, for sure, on its own.

What it really tells us is that sometimes local builders overshoot the market. 

And it's also a demonstration of how it's actually quite rare that builders who overshoot the market might suddenly become "desperate" and need to unload a property at prevailing market prices. 

No, they say. We'll just hold onto it till the market catches up. 

We see this more often than we see liquidation sales, with sellers trying to get out of their projects in order to move on to the next one. 

Truth is, we haven't really seen a builder obviously marking to market to take a loss since 2008. (Y'all remember the multi-property spec home auctions that failed back then? Here's our recap post from way-back-when.)

As to this property, a few observations...

  • The backside of the Martyrs Hill area near downtown seems clearly not to be as valuable as the western edge, where ocean views are possible. 
  • New construction loses prestige value over time when it's not "new" anymore. 
  • Premium prices go to premium builds.

It all ends well for seller and buyer.  

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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.

Based on information from California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. as of August 12th, 2026 at 4:58pm PDT. This information is for your personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties you may be interested in purchasing. Display of MLS data is usually deemed reliable but is NOT guaranteed accurate by the MLS. Buyers are responsible for verifying the accuracy of all information and should investigate the data themselves or retain appropriate professionals. Information from sources other than the Listing Agent may have been included in the MLS data. Unless otherwise specified in writing, Broker/Agent has not and will not verify any information obtained from other sources. The Broker/Agent providing the information contained herein may or may not have been the Listing and/or Selling Agent.