Where are all the 100 blk Buyers???
In Manhattan Beach you have the strand which is great but for those that don’t want to shell out that kind of money there is the 100 block walk streets. Next to the strand this is one of the most desirable places to live in the Beach. In a normal market there may be 1 or 2 sales in this section a year! A busy year would be 4 sales…to clarify I am referring to full lot (2,700 sq ft or 30ft X 90ft lot) single family residences. As of today we have 4 listings “for sale” on the market!!! this is highly unusual, and of course the reason is because of all the craziness in the stock market, I am sure all these potential buyers have lost 20-40% of their net worth from last week alone! Not to mention the fact if a builder was interested in one of these potential tear downs it is next to impossible for he/she to get a reasonable loan, its not impossible but it is much much more difficult.
Currently there are 4 listings on the market as of today:
1) 129 8th st. Listed for $3,499,000 by Roger Leonard of Coldwell Banker. This is a very nicely remodeled home with an extra unit over the garage. It is good size and in great condition its actually a decent deal considering some lot value sales have sold higher than this price in the recent past. The negatives of this property are the beach bathroom at the end of the street, the commercial building next door and the lack of nice homes across the street. I feel its well priced for what it is but its not the best of the best.
2) 128 6th st. for $ 3,500,000 listed by Denise Lavell of Re/Max. This is really a land value deal, the house is the original house from way back when, there is no real garage and the everything in it needs to be replaced. This is really the only Land value listing in the bunch. The property across the street sold for “land value” in January 2008 for over 3.6m, so this one looks good at this price, some may argue its on the “wrong side of the street”. There is a big thing on the walk streets that the north side of the street is better because you get more sun exposure in the front of your house. (I will get into that in another post) This property was or is in escrow but might fall out so they are looking for another buyer.
3) 133 17th st. for $ 3,650,000 by Kevin Pratt of Shorewood Realtors. This house is a “tweener” is not a tear down but its not a big beautiful house. Its in really good condition but it is a little small in the main house with 3 small bedrooms. Then it has a 1 bedroom apartment over the garage. Its very clean and very simple, the location is great but the price seems on the high side compared to 129 8th st. where the house is so much better than this one.
4) Last but definitely NOT least is 202 Ocean Dr. (North corner of 2nd st and Ocean Drive, directly behind the strand) This house is listed for $7,499,000 by David Caskey of Shorewood Realtors. This house is absolutely stunning! It is beautifully built with lots and lots of detail and flows seamlessly from level to level, and the finishes are amazing. They did not use any material that was ground breaking or that you haven’t seen before but the combination of colors and textures were awesome. Its a big price but for what it is and where it is I am willing to bet they get close to it, only time will tell.
This is a small post is to comment on what is available in a very prime section of Manhattan Beach and the fact that there are 4 of them out there at one time proves that the market has changed. Not that there was a lot of doubt. I would say that prices in this area have not come down necessarily but they are not appreciating like were or at all in some cases. The proof this market has changed is a “100 block buyer” has his choice of what he wants where before he had to take what came up or wait months if not years for the next one to pop up and grab it.
