Whazzup on The Strand?

By Dave Fratello | September 21st, 2016

Oh, to have the problems of people on The Strand...

There are people walking and running by your window all the time. Dogs doing their business in your "front yard." Sometimes the ocean is just too darn loud. And the upkeep – oh, the upkeep! Maintaining clean windows, replacing metal fixtures corroded by the salt air...

All of that, plus: No one seems to be able to sell a Strand house these days.

Everything seemed normal and endlessly positive with the sale in July 2015 at 304 The Strand for a cool $14.000M.

That was where South End Strand lot sales had gotten after busts of excitement at the start of our current rising market. (Is it still rising? Discuss.)

And ever since the heady days of that heady sale, no full-sized house or lot on The Strand has sold on the public market.

Not one. In 14 months.

But before we continue on that concerning note, we should note that 512 The Strand, with a nice little place on the lot, did sell off-market for $14.500M this year, in March. And there were some smaller units with Strand addresses that have sold.

For comparison with that last actual sale, neighboring 516 The Strand had sold in November 2014 for $13.500M, a full $1M less. So you could forgive people for thinking the market had continued upward.

But it's been quiet. Here's what's been happening with everyone else.

608 The Strand went on and off market quickly this week, with a 6-month listing lapsing, in favor of a fresh and new DOM count, with a new price $1M below where it has been at most of this year.

So now, instead of $14.999M, it's at $13.999M.

And wouldn't you say that the spiffy duplex here is a nicer interim house than the structures found on the other recently sold plots?

If you'd like to take another $1M off, walk one block.

At 716 The Strand, they're entering month 6 of a listing that's been at $12.900M all along.

What's not to love about a South End Strand lot that's $1M or more under the recent sales?

It's somewhat easier to see, in context, why 614 The Strand hasn't sold.

Much like neighbor 608 The Strand, this one sports a spiffy duplex on site, someplace nice to camp or rent out while waiting for building plans to be approved, etc.

The start at $18.275M in June 2015 must have had a little bit of "future expectations" built into it. At 30% above the price for 304 The Strand, it was a reach.

Only in April this year did 614 The Strand cut to the current asking of $15.300M, still the highest of the South End offerings where lot value is the top factor.

With 459 DOM at this writing, it's the oldest listing in Manhattan Beach right now on the MLS, followed closely by...

1140 The Strand, the boxy condo building right at the parking lots at the pier.

Current asking is $15.975M, part of an ongoing pattern for this property of always being priced above the market – wherever the market may be.

At 380 DOM, it's just another in a series of long, not-yet-successful listings. There have been so many, we made this list in a prior post:

April 2005-April 2006: Asking $5.6M
April-Oct. 2006: Asking $4.999M
July-Oct. 2013: Asking $9.995M
July 2014-March 2015: Asking $13.999M
Sept. 2015-present: Asking $15.975M

Often, sellers will say they "don't have to sell." In this case, the track record suggests that's no mere posturing.

If you want an actual, livable Strand house, albeit not so close to downtown, 3120 The Strand has been out there looking for buyers for 8 months (counting the prior and current versions of the listing). It's at $14.999M.

Up in El Porto, The Strand is less pricey.

There's the multi-unit corner-lot building at 4122 The Strand, asking "only" $8.200M, now finishing 3 sun-drenched months on market.

Neighbor 4117 The Strand offers the same-sized, 3500 sqft. lot, without the corner, for much less: $6.900M.

Don't want to put out that kind of money for a Strand address?

The TH at 2702 The Strand is not right exactly on The Strand – it's actually much more private back in the second unit off the boardwalk. But it gets unblocked views from a great location for "only" $5.500M. The price hasn't moved from its start 5 months ago.

Should have been an attractive vacation option snapped up over the Summer, you might have thought. But it's still out there.

The deal of the year... well, lowest price of the year... on The Strand was the little 2br at 1318 The Strand, part of a multi-unit building – at $3.000M.

Probably more than a few people thought that was a typo when it hit the MLS, and, again, perhaps, now.

Way, way up in the stratosphere, there's a double-plus-sized lot at 2722 The Strand, asking $28.500M.

This is this property's second tour of duty. It ran 6 months from last Fall to April this year at the same price. On this listing, they're at 51 DOM today.

Its erstwhile competitor, 1000 The Strand, quit the market in May this year after trying for most of a year to sell above $26M – at one point asking $28.900M. (See "Both Strand 'Battle' Contestants Have Now Quit.")

You look at all of these, and there's really only one that seems like a move-in home.

One other that spent some time on the this year market was a fabulous, high-end and nearly new build at 108 The Strand.

This 5br/5ba, 6500 sqft. custom build featured a basement to boost the square footage AND parking (2 underground "vault" spots).

Let's say they listed for $20M, even though it was really "only" $19.985M. The listing ran 3 months in Spring, and went away. Perhaps we'll see it again.

The only thing like that is next-door neighbor 104 The Strand (5br/8ba, 6125 sqft.), which has been under contract for a solid year, since early September 2015.

They're still working on it, hoping to close it near that $18.900M list price.

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