New listing Going on the market on Wednesday!

432 9th Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

4 bed, 2.5 bath
2700+ square feet
This home is absolutely gorgeous!!!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO and see pictures.

Before I was able to write my post about 1413 Pine it is already sold!

After 4 days on the market, this 4 bedroom home listed by Brent Griebenow at south bay brokers is already in escrow.  I would not be surprised if it got multiple offers.  It was listed before a year and half ago at $1,649,000 but never sold.  They came out at a new and improved price and it sold quickly.

It was well priced at $1,389,000, it was in good condition, it has a nice yard and in a decent location.

Click on link to see the listing:

http://www.mrmlsmatrix.com/DE.asp?k=225524XAK3K&p=DE-57894281-359

Hello All!

Well it is 2010 and there is a new feeling in the market…I can already feel the activity picking up.  Buyers are looking and sellers are thinking about coming on the market earlier in the year then what is the “norm”.  Waiting until after the superbowl use to be when everyone would wait to bring out their new listings but this year it’s different, there is a real electricity in the market.  I am not going to sit here and tell you that prices are going to start going up but what I do believe transactions are going to go up and there will be a continued shortage of inventory, especially of quality inventory.

It is going to be interesting what values do when inventory has sold off dramatically and there are a lot of motivated buyers out there.  What is important is to hope that sellers realize that the market is still down and that pricing the property right is still critical!

One thing to watch in the beach area is to see what happens with new homes and homes that are only a few years old.  There have been very few “lots” sold in the last year and half and almost all of the “new construction” inventory has been completely sold off.  What is that going to do to the Tree Section (MB) or the Hill Section (MB)????

If I am a buyer I am motivated to buy something this year for two reasons:
1) prices are low and we have seemed to hit a bottom ( as well as the stock market seems to be holding strong above DOW 10,000).
2) Interest rates, there is no where to go but up! Even if prices come down further rates are going to go up and that will make your payments go up.

If I am a seller I am motivated to sell for two reasons:
1) Its a great time to trade up your property.  Even if your property is not worth what it use to be, neither is the bigger house, or the neighborhood you want to get into.  If you are realistic with the price of your current house and your finances allow you to move and improve your home situation, I feel now is the time.
2) Buyers are out there and they have never been more qualified!  There are a lot of Cash buyers out there as well as large down payment buyers qualified through large tough banks.  This allows sellers to sell their home ( assuming its price right) and move on to do what ever it is they want.

LOOK OUT FOR MY NEW AND IMPROVED BLOG COMING SOON WITH MORE POSTS AND VIDEO POSTS ABOUT THE MARKET PLACE!

 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!!!!!

There have been 4 sales  in the last 2+ months on 8th St. in the Manhattan Hill section all of which sold in the low $3,000,000 range.

(going oldest to newest sale)
864 8th St. Manhattan Beach, sold in October for $3,150,000 by Vintage Real Estate (Stroyke Brothers)
This house was a nice cape cod style house, 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, built in 2007. 3,882 square feet of house and 5,680 square feet of land.

717 N. Poinsettia, Manhattan Beach, sold in late November for $3,110,000.
This house was on the corner of 8th St. and Poinsettia Ave., it has great curb appeal.  The inside was a little dated since it was built in 1987, the house was 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, 4,180 square feet, and the lot was 11,423.  This is a great looking home on a large lot but definitely needs to be updated which I am told the new owners are doing.

 718 N. Poinsettia, Manhattan Beach is currently in escrow, it was a brand new house, never been lived in.  It is very large at 5,725 square feet on a 6,495 square foot lot.  This house is a 6 bedroom, 6 bathroom house designed by Louie Tomaro and built by a local builder.  It was last listed at $3,485,000 and I was told it sold in the low $3,000,000 range on par with the other 3 sales.

877 8th Street, Manhattan Beach was last listed at $ 3,299,000 and is currently in escrow supposedly close to that price. This home is listed by South Bay Brokers and has been on the market for 209 days.
This home was built in 2006 with 4,658 square feet of house and 5,760 square feet of land.  It features 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms with lots of nice features.

It is interesting that all for of these sales literally happened with in 50 ft of each other…

I think it does prove a “base line” of what a nice 5,000 +/- square foot house  on 8th Street will sell for, it also shows that there are  buyers out there that can and will buy high end homes in this market, as well as the fact that banks are lending in this price range, I do know that at least 3 of these properties had to get financing in order to buy these homes.  Also it should be mentioned that none of these homes had an ocean view!

Why would these buyers not just go buy a nice tree section house and save themselves $1,000,000 in mortgage?  The answer is the size of the house, these homes are much bigger then your average newer home in the tree section and honestly people also like the idea that they live in the “Hill Section” as well.  There are a lot of families with 3 and 4 kids and there is a need for houses of this size.

2 other notable sales in this price range:
1019 Duncan sold for $2,900,000; new house, 4,800 sft. (this did have an ocean view)
502 Anderson sold for $3,150,000; built in 2004, 4,200 sft. (no view)

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.

116 Terraza Place, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

http://www.oconnorproperty.com/property-detail-property-98.php

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My deals of the week are as follows:

455 35th st. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
listed by the Park Group with Shorewood Realtors MLS#S09112480 $1,599,000

This is a nice Cape Cod style house in the north section of Manhattan Sand.  It is over 3,000 sft. with 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms and a roof top deck.
POSITIVES:  the size is good, having 4 bedrooms is good, condition is good not great.  It does have a nice master suite and an updated kitchen with nice appliances.
NEGATIVES:  the bedrooms are split 2 up and 2 down, it is pretty far North (close to Rosecrans) although it doesn’t bother me, the street is very nice. It does not show as well as it could.
Overall its current price is not bad but it could be lower, but I think they are close, it has a lot to offer for being in the sand section of Manhattan beach.  Its definitely one to consider.

332 30th st. in Hermosa Beach, CA

Listed by South Bay Brokers Chad Falbusch MLS #S09120660 $1,299,000

This is a flat walk street location in North Hermosa.  This is primarily land value but it is a very livable house for a couple or a small family.  This is a great buy for some one who wants to build a nice house and live in this great location for a long time.  I believe the owner has plans for a new house that may be negotiated into the deal.

It’s listed as a 3 bedroom 1 bath house with a 2 car garage, street to alley lot.  The zoning on this side of the street allows for a 3 story house (30ft high), on the opposite size of the street their height limits are lower as well as having smaller lots.  This makes the south side of the street more desirable from a land value point of view.