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Well, That Took a While

The goal for most real estate listings is to be pretty and beloved by the market, drawing instant action.

Selling within a couple of weeks is great; within a month is fine.

It doesn't always happen, though.

The house may be odd. The price may be off, to start. Buyers may be in a foul mood.

After a couple of months, things get tense. After a few months, worse.

But in most cases, buyers and sellers do find a middle ground. The market establishes a price. A sale can happen.

We're talking about Manhattan Beach, y'know. It's not hard to answer the most basic question that would face any real estate listing: Why would anyone want to live here?

We noticed that several new deals and closed sales recently were on listings that had gotten a bit long in the tooth. 

Below, they are grouped by Days on Market. On a few, we'll offer comments and insights. (MLS rules require us to note the listing agents on pending properties.)

100-125 DOM

536 21st Street, Manhattan Beach, 536 21st (4br/2ba, 2090 sqft.) - 104 DOM, closed Sept. 20 at $2.750M (-$549K / -17% from start)

Comment: This one seemed to start out with some structure value priced in, only to close near land value.

1308 Manhattan Ave. (3br/4ba, 2090 sqft.) - 106 DOM, closed Sept. 30 at $4.500M (-$499K / -10% from start)

1777 Gates (3br/2ba, 1767 sqft.) - 110 DOM, closed Oct. 4 at $2.030M (-$169K / -8% from start)

1145 Pine Avenue, Manhattan Beach, 1145 Pine (4br/3ba, 2946 sqft.) - 118 DOM, closed Oct. 22 at $3.475M (-$420K / -11% from start)

Comment: That's a very, very custom house and close to MBB. A prior listing started much higher at $4.200M.

586 35th (5br/5ba, 3580 sqft.) - 123 DOM, closed Nov. 7 at $4.295M (-$200K / -4% from start)

125-200 DOM

1607 1st Street, Manhattan Beach, 1607 1st (5br/5ba, 3495 sqft.) - 148 DOM, sold Oct. 18 at $3.275M (-$425K / -11% from start)

Comment: This one mostly flew below the radar. Brand new homes on 5K lots like this have been getting to $4M+ recently. But this was an '06 Mediterranean.

119 S. Dianthus (3br/2ba, 2364 sqft.) - 154 DOM, closed Oct. 21 at $5.150M (asking)

Comment: The only sale in this post that got asking price. Land value.

1240 5th (7br/7ba, 10,009 sqft) - 158 DOM, sold Oct. 16 at $10.300M (-$2.199M / -18% from start)

1156 6th Street, Manhattan Beach, 1156 6th (8br/9ba, 8100 sqft.) - 175 DOM, sold Sept. 20 at $11.975M (-$5.025M / -42% from start)

Comment: A monster, beauty, killer achievement of a house, but almost out of place on a typical block. Still a stunning number, even if 40% below asking.

417 31st (3br/4ba, 1909 sqft.) - 197 DOM, sold Sept. 17 at $4.025M (-$570K / -12% from start)

300-400+ DOM

Check out this gap – it's a full 4 months between sales on this list.

There are none between 200-300 DOM!

808 John St, Manhattan Beach, 808 John St. (5br/6ba, 6604 sqft.) - 323 DOM, sold Sept. 6 at $14.100M (-$5.800M / -29% from start)

Comment: Dave's buyer clients saw the opportunity here (with a little guidance). Their purchase was the greatest dollar drop from start price and second-greatest percentage drop among all the sales in this post.

1216 18th (4br/5ba, 3399 sqft.) - 363 DOM, now pending, last at $3.899M (-$490K / -11% from start)

1216 18th is listed by William Mar, Strand Hill Properties.

3608 Laurel, Manhattan Beach, 3608 Laurel (5br/5ba, 3300 sqft.) - 370 combined DOM, sold Nov. 4 at $3.950M (-$949K / -19% from first listing start)

Comment: It's been 14 months since this warmly decorated new home first came to market. Location held it back, apparently.

600 8th Street, Manhattan Beach, 600 8th (6br/8ba, 6000 sqft.) - 400 DOM, now pending, last at $4.950M (-$1.550M / -24% from start).

600 8th is listed by Jeremy Shelton, Pacifica Properties Group, Inc.

325 10th (5br/3ba, 2207 sqft.) - 407 combined DOM, sold Sept. 6 at $3.299M (-$701K / -17% from start)

Recap of Ask/Close Spreads

The detail above is thorough, but not necessarily easy at a glance.

Here's a snapshot look at the ask/close spread for each of the properties, grouped again by DOM, from lowest spread to highest in each group:

100-125 DOM

586 35th -4%

1777 Gates -8%

1308 Manhattan Ave. -10%

1145 Pine -11%

536 21st -17%

 

125-200 DOM

119 S. Dianthus 0%

1607 1st -11%

417 31st -12%

1240 5th -18%

1156 6th -42%

 

300-400+ DOM

1216 18th -11% (pending)

3608 Laurel -19%

325 10th -17%

600 8th -24% (pending)

808 John St. -29%

Please see our blog disclaimer.

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 December 14th, 2024 at 2:55am PST. 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.