Hermosa Beach February Home Sales Hermosa Beach home sales are continuing to rise from the depths of the past couple of years, though at a slower pace than we saw last month.  With 26 closings this year through February, this year’s sales are already more than double what they were last year during the same period.  A comparison of median sales prices may not be completely meaningful given the relatively few sales last year, but there is a stark contrast.  Last year the median price for the first two months of the year was $863,000.  This year the number has surpassed $1,130,000, an increase of over 20 percent.  The number of new sales, or opened escrows, was 19 last month, which pretty much guarantees that this momentum will continue through March.  There are now 43 homes of all types ... 03/09/2010

South Bay Homes Market Update for the Week of 2/28/2010 It feels as though word is getting out that there is renewed life in the South Bay real estate market.  Another 64 homes have been added to the inventory this past week.  The total number of homes for sale now stands at 700, up from 680 just a week ago.  The number of new listings added each week had been hanging out at about 50 or so for the last several weeks.  This jump very well may be attributed to the brisk sales pace of the year.  The year-to-date total number of closings has reached 269 compared to only 172 last year.  Perhaps even more importantly, the median sales price has powered up to $840,000 this year vs. $777,500 last year at this time.  We are still off the peak years of 2006 and 2007 with respect to pricing, but m... 03/04/2010

Hermosa Strand Homes Update - 3/1/10 One of my favorite places to write about is the Hermosa strand.  There are few places like it anywhere, even the Manhattan Beach strand has significant differences.  Last week a home went up on the market here for $25,000,000, which seemed a noteworthy reason to summarize what has been happening on the strand with respect to home sales activities over the past couple of years.  To put this eye-popping list price into perspective, there has never been a sale on the strand for over $13,000,000.  For that matter, there has never been a public sale of a home anywhere in the entire South Bay for this much money.  Since the beginning of 2006, the most expensive price paid for a Hermosa strand home was $10,600,000.  The 12 most recent sales started back in ... 03/01/2010

South Bay Homes Market Update for the Week of 2/21/2010 The South Bay real estate market this year appears to be shaking free of the doldrums of the past couple of years.  Sales for the year-to-date are significantly ahead of last year's pace.  There have already been a total of 230 closed sales of all types of homes compared to just 141 last year.  And better yet, the median price has eclipsed $845,000 and remains well above the median price of $744,000 from last year for the same timeframe.  To put this into perspective, during the peak year here for price in 2007, the median sales price eclipsed $922,000 for this period.  With respect to new sales, there was 63 this past week, well ahead of the 44 from the prior week.  The total number of active escrows stands at 371.   As we have le... 02/25/2010

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!   Manhattan Beach Homes are in high demand. But with savvy buyers, where does a buyer go to find a great value. A few things to keep in mind when buying here or anywhere. Do your home work- You need to drive the neighborhood your looking to buy in and check out the prices. Value checks- Hire an agent, that will give you the facts about the value, this way it will save you time and ultamately saving you money. List items in a house that are most important to you- Many times buyers want certain things in a house other homes don't have. A view may not be an option your willing to give up. The style of the cabinets may not be the deal breaker if you have the awesome view. A good agent will help you think those things through. Manhattan Beach homes are great buy... 02/25/2010

Hermosa Beach January Home Sales Hermosa Beach, like Manhattan Beach, had an astonishing jump in the number of home sales in the month of January.  In January of both 2008 and 2009, the total number of homes sold was between five to six.  This past month the number shot up to 19.  The low number of sales from the past years make it difficult to assess the relative shift in median sales price, but the number came in at a healthy $1,075,000 this year.  In addition to the new closings, there were 13 sales that entered into the escrow process last month, bringing the total number of homes in escrow to 38.  So home sales in Hermosa Beach thus far are off to a solid start in 2010... The most expensive sale this month was for a strand home built almost 100 years ago with 2,900 sq. ft. of livin... 02/18/2010

Updated foreclosures in 90254 through 2/18/2010   Here is a new list of homes in various stages of foreclosure in Hermosa Beach.    Foreclosure activity in 90254 848 19th Street 505 Hollowell Ave 1267 8th Street 59 10th Street 1134 Cypress Ave #2 1046 Monterey Blvd 1220 Ocean Drive 200 Pier Ave 230 Manhattan Ave 2046 Prospect Ave 833 5th Street #3 1922 Rhodes Street     For information on how I can help you with all of your real estate needs, please contact me at 310.989.4466 or chamb@earthlink.net www.RebeccaChambliss.com     02/18/2010

The Curious Super Luxury Home Market of the South Bay We are inundated with news about the woes of the real estate market across the nation.  Foreclosures have hit all time highs.  Financing has become more difficult to secure.  The number of homes sold and the median sales prices are below their peak levels of a few years ago.  It seems that on a daily basis there is a news release reminding us about the recurring housing challenges.  And as if this is not enough, the economy has been hit hard enough that people of all income levels have felt the impact of this.  So it is curious that the market for super luxury homes, defined here as homes listed for sale for over $10,000,000, would appear to be thriving at this time. In the South Bay area outside Los Angeles, defined here as includin... 02/14/2010

The number of short sale and foreclosure listings has increased slightly in Hermosa Beach in the past few weeks with some previously listed homes coming back onto the market and some new listings coming onto the market just this week.  There are currently 13 homes on the market at some stage of the foreclosure or short sale process with 8 single family homes, 3 townhomes, and 2 condos.  Of the 13 2 the two homes at 1235 2nd Street and 1515 Monterey are bank owned with the remaining being short sales and properties with NODs (notice of default) filed.  Click on any property to request additional information. South Bay Brokers is a Top Producer, short sale specialist and e-Pro with South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach.  He serves his clients throughout the South Bay and his websites Keith... 02/11/2010

South Bay Homes Market Update for Week of 2/7/2010 Conventional wisdom suggests that home inventory tends to be on the low side until the Super Bowl, at which time things pick up.  This does not appear to be the case in the South Bay this year just yet as new listings have dropped for the second straight week.  There were 55 homes added between 2/4/10 and this writing on 2/11/10.  Of these 55 homes, 32 were single family homes and the remainder were either townhomes or condos.  There were 23 homes that closed escrow during this period and another 69 that were sold and entered escrow.  The closings represent a slight drop from last week while the number of new sales is the same. The least expensive closed sale of South Bay homes this week was for a condo on Ardmore in Hermosa Beach.  It ... 02/11/2010

South Bay Homes Market Update for Week of 1/31/2010 A week has passed and there is no doubt that the number of home sales in the South Bay is on the rise.  Whereas, there were 58 new listings posted two week's ago, there were an additional 71 posted this past week.  Of these listings, 38 are single family homes and 33 are either townhomes or condos. The number of closings increased as well by a significant amount.  There were 35 escrows closed this past week, up from 24 the prior week.  And to add to the encouraging news, 69 homes were sold and entered into escrow compared to 43 the prior period...The most expensive closing was for $4,400,000 on Hermosa Avenue in Hermosa Beach.  This is a record sale for this street.  The least expensive closed sale was for a $295,000 condo in Redondo V... 02/04/2010

90254 Foreclosure Updates 1/9/2010 - 2/4/2010 Here are some homes in various stages of foreclosure in Hermosa Beach 90254: 2634 Manhattan Ave 501 Herondo Street #16 1835 Manhattan Avenue 1504 Monterey Blvd 1018 8th Street 1030 8th Place 701 8th Street 3005 Manhattan Avenue 1707 Pacific Coast Highway #216 2416 Hermosa Avenue 447 Herondo Street #203 628 Gould Avenue   For information on how I can help you with all of your real estate needs, please contact me at 310.989.4466 or chamb@earthlink.net   www.RebeccaChambliss.com   02/04/2010

South Bay Homes Market Update Week of 1/24/10 I hope to get in the habit of providing a weekly update of the South Bay home market activity.  There have been 58 homes added to the market as new listings this week to date.  Of these, 29 are single family homes and 22 are townhomes. Of the homes that were in escrow going into the weekend, 24 closed out. An additional 43 sales were made over the past five days and opened escrow.  Last year's sale pace was 35 sales per week.  On the surface, this is another indication that we are coming out of the depths of the painful drop-off here since the inception of the financial crisis. Visit us at Beachtime Realty Search Hermosa Beach Homes 01/28/2010

South Bay Homes Pricing Strategies I find it very intriguing that there are many listings in the South Bay real estate market that are clearly priced well above current market rates.  This has been the subject of many blogs on AR and yet it still fascinates me how frequently it occurs.  In the South Bay region of Los Angeles, the median sales prices of 2009 were fairly consistent with late 2004.  This has been pretty well documented locally and the market consistently reaffirms this point.  Nonetheless, there are numerous examples of listings currently on the market at 2007 pricing when most sub-areas here hit the mountaintop.  Many of these homes have already had downward adjustments and may have second or third rounds of corrections. A case in point is the strand, home to all the beac... 01/27/2010

Hermosa Beach East Home Sales in 2009 A vast majority of the sub-areas of the South Bay experienced a leveling off of or an increase in the number of homes sold in 2009 from 2008.  Many of these areas appeared to do this with discounted pricing, as median sales prices dropped in all but a handful or so of the areas.  The Hermosa Beach East area had the same number of single family home sales this past year as the year before, but the median sales price dropped by 10 percent during the process.  This sales price is now over 20 percent below the peak reached back in 2006.  The number of sales are less than half of what they were at the beginning of the decade when there were 95 single family homes sold.  Nonetheless, the median sales price in 2000 was $475 K and now stands at just under $... 01/18/2010

For those home buyers out there looking not only for a stunning ocean front home, but for the chance to live the life of the rich and famous, your home has arrived.  The home is located at 3500 The Strand in Hermosa Beach and it's known in the area as the "90210" house.  How the girls of Beverly Hills 90210 (the original not the recent) afforded a Strand home is certainly a mystery but this home was featured on many of their summer episodes with the cast living the good life on the beach.  The home itself is actually on a very unique corner lot in which the bike path, or Strand, juts out in the transition from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach offering unblocked views in multiple directions.  As mentioned the address is 3500 The Strand and the home is actually two 2 bedroom 2 bath homes ... 01/18/2010

Hermosa Beach - Updated January 18th 2010 This past week we've seen a number of new short sale listings come onto the real estate market in Hermosa Beachas the usual January market heats up a bit.  There are currently 11 active homes for sale of which all are short sales other than the home on Monterey which is bank owned.  Of the 11 most have been on the market for some time with the recent additions of 1216 2nd Street, 1062 3rd Street, and 222 Culper Court that were just put on the market this week.  Click on the listings below to request additional information. Keith Kyle is a licensed Realtor and e-Pro with South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach.  He serves his clients throughout the South Bay and his websites KeithKyleHomes.comand FindYourSouthBayHome.com offer the most comprehensive... 01/18/2010

Hermosa Beach Strand Home Sales I recently moved from the Strand in Hermosa Beach after more than 11 great years there.   The views and beach access are unparalleled and it is, quite possibly, one of the easiest places to meet new people.  All you would need to do is sit on your patio on any given day and invariably, someone will stop by and say hi or ask you a question about beach-living.  For some people, this kind of access is fantastic.  For others, the perceived lack of privacy can be menacing.  This past weekend, a long time neighbor and friend put his landmark home up on the market after 10 years there.  It is often referred to as the 90210 beach house.  It is one of a number of high profile homes currently listed for sale on the Hermosa Beach Strand. Over 50 homes have been sold... 01/16/2010

Hermosa Beach Valley Home Sales in 2009 The Hermosa Beach Valley area has done particularly well from a real estate standpoint over the course of this past decade.  Median sales prices have doubled over this period.  However, like every other sub-area in the South Bay, the number of single family homes sold and the median sales prices both took a big hit after the credit market crash of 2007.  The good news for Hermosa Valley is that the number of sales have rebounded and were higher in 2009.  The same cannot be said for prices.  The median sales price this last year was off over 11 percent from the prior year. What is interesting, however, is that the peak median sales price for this area was $1.38 M in 2005…and again in 2008.  With this perspective in mind, Hermosa Valley has a strong... 01/16/2010

Hermosa Beach Sand Section Home Sales in 2009 What a difference a year makes!  In 2008, single family home sales in the sand section of Hermosa Beach had the highest median price of all areas of the South Bay at $2.35 M.  There were 36 sales that year and 16 of them were for $3 M or more.  This past year, there were a couple more sales, but only five of them were priced over $3 M.  In the year that has passed, the sand section went from being number one to fourth as far as having the highest median sales price goes.  Nonetheless, values here have held on well over these past few challenging years. This area has behaved somewhat differently than the vast majority of South Bay areas.  The peak for median sales prices occurred in 2008, whereas for all but a few other areas the peak hit in ... 01/15/2010