Manhattan Beach Homes for Sale
I have been asked to explore what has been happening with the hill section of Manhattan Beach as far as home sales activity goes. Many of the homes in the hill section have ocean views or city views of Los Angeles and other points north. Homes tend to be larger with square footage typically ranging between 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft. The lots are often much larger than lots in the sand section and so the area tends to be preferred by those wanting added privacy.
Back in 2001, there were 33 sales of single family homes with an average sales price of $1.5 M. In the following year the number of sales shot up to 53 while the average price remained the same. Over the next six years the number of units sold gradually declined until hitting a bottom in 2008 with only 17 sales. This year, thankfully, the number is trending upwards again. For the few years after 2002, the average sales price increased every year by at least 18 percent. It held steady through 2008, but dropped by about eight percent this year. This is, for the most part, a reflection of what has been happening in the overall Manhattan Beach Homes for Sale area and the other beach cities. In 2008, the number of units sold and the average sales prices both dropped in all areas.
The inventory of unsold homes stands at about one year. Interestingly, the average listing price of $3.3 M for these single family homes is a full 40 percent over what the average selling price for hill section homes that have sold has been this year-to-date. Given the relatively high supply of homes for sale and their premium listing prices, I would not be surprised if many of the final sales prices drop by five or more percent. This is worth watching over the next few months.
I am often asked where the most expensive place to live in the South Bay is. Interestingly, the answer to this question has been shifting with time. Ten years ago, the answer was, by a long shot, the sub-area of Rolling Hills. The median price there was a full $600,000 higher than the next closest area, a significant gap at the time. This past year, the Hill section of Manhattan Beach managed to pull ever so slightly ahead of Rolling Hills to claim the crown with a median price just under $2.5 million. However, looking at this with respect to area masks the much higher cost of buying on the strand. In the last couple of years, the cost of entry to buy on the strand exceeded $4.7 million. It is worth noting that through this past year, the price of a strand home has not varied all that much with respect to location when all things are considered. This may be about to change in a big way.
Manhattan Beach Homes for Sale For the past ten or so years, the 200 block has been undergoing a remarkable, game-changing transformation. In 1998, ten beach bungalows occupied 216 and 220 The Strand (shown above). They were on the market being sold as two separable lots at the time. A very well known local professional athlete purchased both lots for under $4 million and ended up selling them less than three years later for $9.8 million. The buyer managed to pick up the adjacent lot as well soon thereafter for a tad over $3 million in the summer of 2001. At the time, the remaining three lots were all independently owned by the same parties and had been for at least ten years.
In 2004, the property on 200 The Strand was purchased by a non-occupying owner. By early 2009, the homes on 204 and 208 The Strand were both purchased by a single investor and the triple lot property was converted into a substantial single home. The closing prices for the three individual properties ranged from $5.5 million to $6.7 million, consistent with other strand sales at the time they occurred. The six lots had a collective total selling price of about $31 million, or $5 million per lot. By strand standards, this average is not particularly noteworthy. It is the added value created by combining lots and building prominent homes that make this story far from finished.
Before I carry on about why I think this piece of the strand will potentially forever raise the bar on home values at the beach, I thought I would put this into a broader context. Every year, Forbes magazine publishes its list of the most expensive homes in America. Last year, two of the top three homes were in the Los Angeles area. The most expensive home was selling for $100 million in Beverly Hills and the number three home on the list was listed at $85 million in Bel Air. If you look at the Bel Air price with respect to land area, which turns out to be greater than the Beverly Hills home, the home prices out to about $20 million per half acre of land. As a side note, a couple of acres in Lancaster, CA will set you back about $15,000. The six homes on the 200 block of the strand sit on just under a half acre. Therefore, the $31 million in total acquisition costs for the six lots already significantly exceeds the land value of the top most expensive homes in America.
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