216 7th st. Has been sold!
It showed up in the tax records as sold as of 7/14/10. The property sold to an individual. My understanding was that this was a “short pay” and the sales price was $5,025,000 (per tax records).
This is 125,000 more than the house up the street built by Maloney Development but this house had a basement.

216 7th st. was listed by Rob Freedman of ReMax.

Today it was recorded, 660 33rd st. Manhattan Beach was sold for $1,990,000 after being listed for $2,195,000.

The real story is that the house did have multiple offers in the range of $1,950,000 and $2,100,000 and this buyer got the house for over $2,000,000 but then backed out his own commission to reduce the price for himself (buyer/agent).
So Retail price on this house was $2,050,000.

Only a few “new construction homes” left there is one more that is not on the market from the “golden era” on Pine with a basement that is set to hit the market soon if it has not sold off market.

Speaking of off market there has been tons of activity off the market and if you are not working with an agent “in the know” then you are at a disadvantage for those good properties.  I smell another blog entry!

here are the specs on 660 33rd st…

“New Construction…Now Bank Owned REO. Stunning new rustic spanish home with over 4700 sq. ft. of living space. Beautiful travertine stone and stained walnut wide plank floors thru-out. Large cook’s kitchen with granite center island, vege sink, pantry, butler’s pantry and quality Thermador appliances. Large family room with hardwood floors and big stone fireplace, plus french doors opening to patio and outdoor fireplace. Large basement with rec. room and storage. All bedrooms have their own bath. Spacious master suite with vaulted ceiling, stone fireplace, walk-in closet, separate spa tub and shower. Excellent location, walk to parks, award winning Grandview Elementary School, restaurants and the beach.”

Also see my video blog entry on this property: http://www.oconnorproperty.com/blog/?p=206

 Address                 Sqft        YrBt      S/Price
229  24th ST            4,230    2009      $ 4,200,000
3216  The Strand    3,600    1946       $ 4,700,000
128  9th ST              4,100     2009      $ 4,900,000
224  7th ST              4,200     2009      $ 4,900,000
3404  The Strand   5,200    1974        $ 5,350,000
612  John St            7,398     2000      $ 5,450,000
218  Anderson ST   8,500     2001       $ 6,525,000
208  The Strand     3,575      1955        $ 6,700,000*
204   The Strand    3,568      1926       $ 6,100,000*
1712  The Strand    4,500      2008      $ 9,000,000

Break down:
3 sand section, walk street homes. Avg price: $4,667,000
2 Hill section homes with views. Avg. Price: $5,987,500
5 Strand homes. Avg Price: $ 6,370,000
It should be noted that only one of these Strand sales was a newer home, so in 2 years only one new home in the Manhattan Strand has sold.

*The 2 Strand sales at 204 and 208 The Strand were bought by the same owner and will be developed into one house which will be right next to the new house on 3 lots at 3rd and The Strand.  The corner of 2nd and The Strand is new construction currently being built on a single corner lot, but if you think about it, the block between 2nd St. and 3rd St. on the strand is 6 lots and will have 3 new houses on it (3 houses TOTAL).

In 2008 there were 10 sales over $4,000,000 but no strand sales!

2 Hill section homes
3 in the American Martyrs section
5 in the Sand Section
0 Strand Homes!!!!!

This is a quick entry about a few sales in the tree section that have sold over 2,000,000! (in the last 6 months)

2401 John St. Manhattan Beach closed today for $2,275,000
This was talked about in one of my older entries “a dying breed”

2705 Palm Dr. Manhattan Beach, closed last month off market for $2,250,000
This is a Matt Morris re-sale that was built in 2008, sold as it was being finished.  The sellers paid $2,550,000 back then.
10% loss, not bad considering what some other people had sold for.

700 35th St. Manhattan Beach, sold $ 2,250,00  8/11/09

1805 N. Pointsettia Ave. Manhattan Beach sold $2,000,000  6/16/09

What does this mean?  Are we at a bottom?
No one knows but this is a sign that prices have stopped falling for the time being. I feel strongly that idea of buying a 1-4 year old house in the tree section for $1,600,000 to $1,800,000 is off the table for now.

The only real listings left like the ones above are:

562 33rd St. Shorewood Realtors Lynne Lear $2,150,000, MLS#  S09096536

2100 Pine Ave. Shorewood Realtors Marilee Dolan $2,149,000  MLS# S09127283

The other listings out there are not worth mentioning at this time due to price and/or location.

Below is a list of mostly February and some January sales that sold in 10 days or less, almost all of them with multiple offers and almost all of them for full price or more!  What does this mean?  Well I personally think it means that sellers are getting more realistic with their prices.  Why?  Because there has always been buyers out there, yes always, but now the sellers have realized in order to sell their house fast they have to price it right!

Most of these were brand new listings that came out at great prices and got rewarded with a quick sale and/or and over the asking price! 2 of these on the list were listed at much higher list prices and made a dramatic price reduction and then sold very quickly.  This is encouraging to see that even in these tough economic times with no real bottom in sight for the next 3-6 months (at least) people are willing to bet they got a good enough deal that they snapped up these properties in a hurry.

On an interesting note, one big observation I have noticed is the disconnect from the the sellers in North Redondo that use to become the low end buyers in Manhattan and Hermosa that are now just strictly sellers.  Even though prices have fallen in Manhattan and Hermosa Beach the Redondo Beach seller is not making that jump across Avaition Blvd like they use too.  This is actually hurting Manhattan Beach’s entry level values.  That Redondo Beach Seller seems to be just that, a seller and not a new buyer.  They are getting out and sitting out.  But their market is on fire!  Why? Because of its price range, buyers in that neighborhood are able to take advantage of the loan programs like FHA, Conforming and Jumbo-Conforming Loans.  (Listen to Dan and Dougs Radio show on February 19th to hear about those loans and tax breaks too!)

SALE SOLD IN 10 DAYS or LESS!

S09015062      405   21st ST        MB    1,149,000    7 days (sold with 7 offers, over the asking)
S09017865      2615  Crest DR    MB    1,175,000    0 days ( sold off market)
S09022669    133  17th ST           MB    3,450,000    0 days* was on the market but sold while of the market with Multiple offers
S08158166    3404 The Strand   MB    5,500,000    3 days* $1 million+ price reduction
S09014152    208 The Strand     MB    6,800,000    0 days* sold off market never hit MLS
S09018298    1540 MarineAV    MB    899,000    5 days
S09008764    129  1st ST             MB    1,199,000    9 days (Had 4 offers for over the asking price)
F1792864       432   24TH ST      MB    1,199,888    0 days (sold off market with multiple offers)
S09005138     505  Anderson    MB    799,900    3 days (sold with 7-8 offers will close near 900K)
S09016950    122 Manhattan Ave. MB 1,579,000 10 days (had 8 offers sold way over the asking price)
S09013956    714 N Irena AV #D     RB    579,000    9 days
S09015066    1915 Morgan LN #A   RB    559,000    7 days
V09020736    2115 Ripley AV           RB    629,000    6 days
S09019572    1908 Spreckels            RB    735,000    8 days
S09017842    2105 Mathews AV #12  RB    539,000    9 days
S09017876    2107 Plant AV #B           RB    789,000    9 days

Market recap (MB,HB,RB):

January escrows: 42

January Closings: 54

February Escrows: 30 (as of Feb. 24th.)

February sale: 42  (as of Feb. 24th.)

I will be brief, but there is a lot to talk about.First off is the new construction in the tree section, 1901 Walnut sold last week with 2 offers, the person that bought it is paying all cash.  I personally like the house and think the builder did a nice job, the price is yet to be disclosed but I was told that it sold between 2.1 and 2.2 … This house has been available for a while but once the new year hit so did new buyers.

Second to talk about is the new listing that came and went at 322 24th st. in Hermosa Beach, a full lot duplex really close to the beach in a great part of north Hermosa listed for 895,000 and sold in one day with 3 back up offers.  In my personal opinion this property was easily UNDER priced by 100,000 or more.  But this proves that buyers are out there and they are willing to act quickly if they see something they like.

Third, Also to sell is another new construction home in the tree section of Manhattan Beach, Bob Lane of Shorewood Realtors listing on 2829 Valley Dr.  A new construction house built by Gary Lane.  It too sat around for a while but sold shortly after the first of the year to an all cash buyer.

Forth, 505 Anderson st. Manhattan beach, listed for 799,000 a single family home in the “hill section”.  It was listed for 4 or 5 days had multiple offers and sold over the asking price.  Some people thought this was an amazing deal, but personally I did not care for the property…yeah you are in the Hill Section but you are on a 25 foot wide lot most lots over there are 40-50 feet wide, the hosue was in need of a lot of work and you were not in a great section of the Hill with other “tall and skinny houses around you.”  For the same amount of money I would rather live in East Manhattan on a much bigger lot and in house with better condition.

There have been 19 new escrows in the month of January in all of Manhattan and Hermosa.

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.