Judging by how January's gotten rolling here in the Manhattan Beach real estate market, it's clear that 2026 is not 2025, nor is it 2024. And it's certainly not 2022-23.
What we mean here is that January 2026 is establishing an identity – a pattern, a vibe – with local market activity that isn't like any recent years.
It’s definitely better than expected.
There are no wildfires driving a rush of early-season sales. (California is, in fact, drought-free for the first time in 25 years.) There’s no big, depressing slump, following a frenzy.
Instead, this year's first month is simply surprising, to the upside.
There are sales at all price points. But we've been very much intrigued by the absolute swarm of activity around homes offered between roughly $2.5-$4.0M. Let's take a look at those already in escrow from listings first put out here in January:
449 S. Prospect (4br/3ba, 1904 sqft.) - a mid-century-style, single-level home with some upgrades but wanting more.
Gimme a flat, large lot, a quiet street, potential, privacy... you've got a deal.
This listing definitely slipped below the radar for a lot of people, but drew multiple offers.
C'mon, just $2.600M? Up, up, up.
(449 S. Prospect is listed by Ronald Werner, Vista Sotheby’s International Realty.)
2212 N. Ardmore (4br/3ba, 2428 sqft.) is a warm, midsized, Craftsman-inspired home with a nice backyard space and great walkability.
It's probably not the home anyone thought they were looking for, but one that checked all the boxes.
Sold within about a week, asking $3.400M.
(Listed by Casey McKinley, Compass.)
2907 Crest (2br/2ba, 1355 sqft.) is a nicely upgraded, petite, ocean-view home that profiles nicely as a potential weekend getaway or vacation rental.
The livability and potential were really easy to see.
The list price of $2.895M made it one of 3 listings in MB to come out in a single week under $3M with multiple-offers written all over it. (If not written on it...)
It needed a full 2 weeks (oh, perish the thought) to get under contract.
(2907 Crest is listed by Jeremy Shelton, Pacifica Properties Group, Inc.)
1717 Pacific Ave (4br/3ba, 2200 sqft.) is a highly customized, finely remodeled midsized home in a location that's incredibly convenient to schools and walkable to downtown.
It's also got a robust, large, west-facing backyard, with endless potential.
Was this a popular listing this week?
HAHA. Yes.
Asking $3.399M, obviously too little for a "must have," darling home of this sort, this listing drew more offers than you're currently thinking.
It's currently in escrow, after they sorted through all the paper that was thrown at the sellers.
(1717 Pacific Ave is listed by Kristi Seth, Compass.)
2921 N Poinsettia (3br/3ba, 1836 sqft.) is an almost-midsized home that starts out with a gem of a location, one of the treasured little blocks of the Tree Section.
Asking price was $2.800M, which counts as cautious, but it was destined to go up.
Multiple offers? Yep. Overbids? Hello!
(2921 N. Poinsettia is listed by Kristi Seth, Compass.)
613 36th (3br/2ba, 1176 sqft.) is a smallish cottage with older upgrades.
People love the street-to-alley lots in the Tree Section like this one's 5400-sqft. plot.
This one came out at just $2.199M and needed 8 whole days to sign a deal.
(Listed by Lee Knickerbocker, Estate Properties.)
608 35th (3br/2ba, 1364 sqft.) has a ton in common with the listing mentioned directly above on 36th – both being in the 600 block in the further north end of the Trees.
It's also got a 5400-odd-sqft. street-to-alley lot. Locationwise, not only is it one block further to the interior, it's also on the favorable south side of 35th.
This one started out almost $800K higher at $2.995M, but actually sold a tiny bit faster, posting a deal after just 6 days on the MLS.
(Listed by Kurt Allen, Compass.)
1647 Ruhland (3br/1ba, 1075 sqft.) is more of a lot sale, offering a full Mira Costa 50'x150' plot that's pretty flat.
It's neither too far east, nor too close to the high school. (If you count the second block away from Peck as not too close.)
Asking $2.300M – below what some lots have traded for recently – this one went within 2 days.
(Listed by Kristi Seth, Compass.)
Among other recent deals on new listings in this sub-$4M price range, we have already recently referenced 1902 Highland (4br/2ba, 1954 sqft.) selling quickly (8 DOM) with a list price of $2.350M. You could also count 1826 10th (3br/2ba, 1712 sqft., $2.499M) – which fell out of escrow in January and then found a new buyer 10 days later. Meantime, 11 Malaga Place (3br/3ba, 2064 sqft.), which was listed several weeks ago, back in December, also just made a deal (asking $2.230M).
So far here in 2026, it's a good time to list a home at a moderate price point in MB.
