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Manhattan Beach, CA Real Estate News

By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  OK I'll admit it... I've been reading the Bubble Bloggers.  I periodically check out what they have to say to find out what people  supposedly outside the industry are thinking. I note that because for civilians many of them have a lot of information that can only come from a local MLS. I'm noting some major changes in the last 6-8 months on most of these blogs.  For one thing the authors have either gotten day jobs or don't have as much to say because the number and frequency of posts has declined on most sites.  The volume of readership has also decreased compared  last year when the media frenzy was at it's height predicting 30%-50% price declines. While we are still no good rotten greedy REALTORS® much of the really nasty rhetoric seems to have quieted down a bit. I did notice tha...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  The lake and concert area at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach  Market Snapshot for Manhattan Beach CA  April 1-23, 2007.  Information is for Active, Pending and Sold properties.   This is the breakout by price range:Manhattan Beach: Market Snapshot March 17, 2007Manhattan Beach: Market Snapshot March 5, 2007Beach Cities Sold March 2007Beach Cities SOLD FebruaryBeach Cities SOLD JanuaryManhattan Beach MemoriesManhattan Beach: Take a Walk by the Sea All content copyright © 2007   Kaye Thomas  
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
 Take a TOUR of South Redondo.What's Happening in the Market?The South Bay/ Beach Cities home market is as unpredictable as ever. Headlines in newspapers and sound bytes in the media push the fallout in the sub prime loan market. Forecasts of thousands of foreclosures are being blasted eveywhere. Meanwhile in our little corner of the world people are buying without paying much attention to what's happening with sub prime loans.Will we feel some fall out from the sub prime debacle... probably. Will our market be devasted with huge numbers of foreclosures.. probably not.To find out why we seem to doing better then other areas in the State go to:  Manhattan Beach and all South Bay Beach Cities Real Estate Info to get the rest of the story. All content copyright © 2007   Kaye Thomas   
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  What's wrong with this picture.. no sub prime loans, prices are not nose diving, inventory is declining and buyers are once more in multiple offer situations.  Guess it must be Spring in the Beach Cities. Here is the breakdown for available listings and number of sold properties in the Beach Cities:Manhattan Beach: Single Family Homes: 90Townhomes/condos: 29                   Sold:  60Hermosa Beach:Single Family Homes: 54Townhomes/condos: 48                   Sold: 27North Redondo:Single Family Homes: 56Townhomes/condos: 64                   Sold:  75South Redondo: Single Family Homes: 27townhomes/condos: 91                    Sold:  34El Segundo: Single Family Homes: 17Townhomes/condos: 9                    Sold: 20Inventory levels in most of the beach cities are half what they were ...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
      Back in the days of the dinosaurs.. when I started selling real estate .. people looked at buying a house a bit differently. First there were not 57 different varieties of loans.  You went for a fixed or an adjustable.  The adjustable was pretty simple.. it moved up or down, was tied to a fairly stable index and no negative amortization. Oh.. and you had to qualify for the loan.  Most people chose the fixed rate loan because they wanted to know what their payment would be over the long term.  If you hadn't saved much money or been a bit too free with those pesky credit cards then you took some personal responsibility.  I can't tell you how many people came in who wanted to buy but had to wait 6-24 months while they saved a little more toward a down payment or paid down the credit ...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
   I was listening to my favorite afternoon radio talk show yesterday.. John & Ken on KFI.  They were talking about an article in the LATimes about why residents in other states disliked Californians who moved into their states and changed things.  One of the biggies was how California transplants have influenced NO SMOKING laws in many states.  The other reason they are not happy about Californians moving into their areas is because they think we are responsible for higher real estate prices.  In some respects this is true... but there are simply not that many people from CA moving to every city in the United States to blame us for all rising real estate values. It may be convenient to blame us for everything that you don't like in your state but be reasonable we really aren't everywhe...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
It's impossible to talk about the history of Manhattan Beach without including the history of the Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach.  Rumor has it that if  The Ladies of Manhattan Beach, as they were called by the local population, hadn't strongly whispered in their husbands ears  it would have taken much longer for the city to incorporate.  As it was Manhattan Beach was far behind their sister cities of Redondo and Hermosa in establishing a city.  The Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach was formed in 1909 by 10 local women.  At that time the population was about 600 and there was not much in the way of social life.  The women got together to promote a library , a social group to improve life in Manhattan Beach and to get the city incorporated.  It wasn't until September 1...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
    Hermosa Beach tour February is not only a short month but usually also a slow one. There is a lot of property currently in escrow ( sale pending). We should see more action as properties close in March reflecting a 45-60 day escrow period. Here's a quick snapshot of home sales in the beach cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and El Segundo for February 1-28, 2007.  Keep your eye on next month's figures as inventory continues to declineand sales increase.  Here's an example... last year you couldn't give away a townhome in Manhattan Village and this year they are selling as soon as they hit the market.To find out how we did go to: Manhattan Beach and all South Bay Beach Cities Real Estate InfoAll content copyright © 2007   Kaye Thomas  
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
 Inventory is still low in Manahttan Beach compared to last year. Currently there are 93 homes for sale.  Well priced homes are selling within a week. Buyers are being choosy and if a home is not in good condition or is overpriced then buyers will continue to pass.  Here is how they break out based on price:$0-$1,000,000 ( 7 properties for sale )$1,000,000-$2,000,000 ( 36 properties for sale )$2,000,000-$3,000,000 ( 35 properties for sale )$3,000,000-$4,000,000 (13 properties for sale )$4,000,000 or more (2 properties for sale ) This is the break out by area:Sand Section ( Area 42) 19 homesTree Section (Area 43) 31 homesHill Section ( Area 44) 12 homesManhattan Village (Area 45) 1 homeManhattan Heights (Area 46) 8 homesMira Costa ( Area 47) 22 homes For more information on Manhattan Bea...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  So far 2007 is a lot different from 2006. If you want to buy in Manhattan Beach you know that inventory is very low particularly  in the $2,000,000 or less range. There are only  87 single family homes for sale in Manhattan Beach and less then 20 condos. These are the stats for price for single family homes in Manhattan Beach:         $0-$1,000,000 ( 5 properties for sale )$1,000,000-$2,000,000 ( 31 properties for sale )$2,000,000-$3,000,000 ( 35 properties for sale )$3,000,000-$4,000,000 (13 properties for sale )$5,000,000 or more (3 properties for sale )  This is what is available in each neighborhood:Sand Section ( Area 42) 20 homesTree Section (Area 43) 29 homesHill Section ( Area 44) 9 homesManhattan Village (Area 45) 1 homeManhattan Heights (Area 46) 11 homesMira Costa ( Area 47...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  On those mornings when I have way too much coffee my brain seems to turn in strange directions. Today is no exception. Inventory has really declined in Manhattan Beach  and in fact in all the Beach Cities.  So it occurred to me that maybe the reason inventory has gone down and people appear to be  buying is that there have been almost no negative articles on real estate in the last few months.  In fact when looking at the archives for our local South Bay newspaper.. The Daily Breeze the last really negative feature was on October 27, 2006.  In 45 articles on California home prices in The LA Times the last dismal  real estate sucks article  was October 12, 2006.  So I'm thinking that perhaps people pay a whole lot more attention to media news then we think and especially to negative me...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
Brian Brady  wrote a terrific piece You Can't Miss with this Real Estate(if you can afford it) about why some markets will always be high priced.  I think the South Bay Beach cities.... Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and the Palos Verdes Peninsula should be added to his list.   The Donald has built a golf course on the hill and is selling luxury homes to his friends.  Can the beautiful people be far behind?   What's Malibu have that we don't?  Las Vegas... oh come on Brian.. all they have is money and showgirls.. We'll match our beach beauties with the best of them!  Why should Brian add us to his list?Well to find the answer to that question take a little stroll over to: Manhattan Beach and all South Bay Beach Cities   I think you will agree that the South Bay is a very ...
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By Tony Castellano
(The Real Estate Consultants)
The Sand Section of Manhattan Beach saw a decrease in the price per square foot of properties sold in January 2007 compared to a year ago. In January 2007, the Sand Section posted six sales of single family homes ranging in price from $1,100,000 for a 974 square foot home on the busy street of Highland, to $3,650,000 for a 4,160 square foot home on 26th Street. The average price per square foot for these sales was $1,002, a 14.3% decrease over January 2006 which posted a $1,169 average price to per square foot.JanuaryAverage Price Per SQFT2006$1,169.772007$1,002.52The average days on market was also significantly higher in the Sand Section for January 2007.  In 2006, the average days on the market for the seven sales of single family homes was 41 days, compared to 71 days on the market ...
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By Tony Castellano
(The Real Estate Consultants)
The Tree section of Manhattan Beach posted eight single family home sales in January 2006, with a low of $830,000 to a high of $4,299,000. Excluding these highest and lowest sale numbers we arrive at the median price for the area of $1,722,650. The tree section is desirable area considered to be south of Rosecrans, West of Sepulveda, North of Manhattan Beach Blvd, till you reach the top of the hill crest at Bell Ave. and down through the valley at Ardmore.This January 2007 the Tree Section posted seven sales of single family homes with a median price of $1,701,200, a 9.87% drop. The biggest change was days on the market from a little more than a week in 2006 (8.5 days to be exact) to an average of 54 days in January 2007. The Tree Section has some award winning schools including Califor...
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By Lynn O'Donnell
(Shorewood Realtors)
  Since January 2007 the real estate market has really taken off. I pulled some stats directly from the multiple listings  1/07- 2/20/07.  265 homes (in the South Bay beach cities)  sold in 25 days or less.  Many other homes sold in Jan, but they were on the market longer.  It is an active market - good for both buyers and sellers. Click the following URL to see the listings:  http://matrix.gsbrmls.net/matrix/public/email.aspx?ID=698897350 Lynn O'Donnell  310 283-8615
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
        If you have lived in the same town for a number of years you have seen places come and go.. some were favorites and some you barely noticed.   I've been in Manhattan Beach since 1969 and have seen many changes in the downtown scene over the years.  A few weeks ago I was  walking in downtown with a friend and we were talking about how sad it was to lose Old Venice , El Sombrero and the other stores that caught fire at Christmas. We wondered when they would rebuild and how different the new places would be from the originals. Across the street was a big hole in the ground where Pete's had been. As we walked through town we noticed the old  Good Stuff was another hole in the ground that will soon be office condos. We both started reminiscing about the places we missed that had been...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
So far this year seems to be a different story when compared to last year.. Inventory is down by 50% from last year for single family homes in Manhattan Beach and townhomes in North Redondo. I use these two areas as they seem to reflect the market as a whole.... that is upper end and entry level for the beach cities. Last year they both maintained large inventories for most of the year and the market remained very slow. The decline in inventory appears to be because property is selling not being withdrawn from the market. Prices are still negotiable which is good news for buyers. The market is approaching normal something we haven't seen in years. To see how we did  go to: Manhattan Beach and all South Bay Beach Cities Real Estate InfoFor more information on the beach Cities go to Kaye ...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  In 1888 Manhattan Beach was a pile of sand along the tracks the Santa Fe  RR laid to Redondo Beach. Our city got it's name when John Merrill and George Peck flipped a coin...  Merrill won and we became Manhattan Beach.   By 1902 Merrill, Peck and Frank Daugherty were selling selling lots in the area for $350.00 with $50 down and payments of $10 per month.   Around 1909 eleven women formed a club called the Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach.  These women not only started the first school and library in our town but rumor has it they pushed their husbands to incorporate the small beach community into a town in 1912.   Manhattan Beach was almost entirely sand dunes.  The blowing sand caused huge problems for the residents. Sometime in the early 1920's  the developers who were bui...
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
  Everyone loves the beach lifestyle!   These are sales for 2006 in Manhattan beach compared to 2005... While the volume was down and the days on market was significantly longer... overall sale prices were fairly stable.  Manhattan Beach is still one of the most expensive cities in California.  ** Data is from the Greater South Bay MLS and does not include sales that were not part of data submitted to the MLS For more articles on Manhattan Beach and the beach cities vistit  Beach City Real Estate InfoAlso visit Kaye Thomas 4 Homes and Move 2 Manhattan BeachAll content copyright © 2007   Kaye Thomas  
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By Kaye Thomas, e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
(Real Estate West)
 This morning I caught this on Realtor.org  online news update.  After clicking on the link BlockShopper.com I went to the article in the Chicago Tribune and frankly I am stunned.  While most newspapers have their Local VIP Home Sales  articles I think this site goes too far. The site not only provides the name and occupation of the buyer and seller, prior and current sale information and pictures of the properties but they want to add pictures of the principals as well.  When faced with complaints,  the website owner, Brian Timpone, was aghast..  stating "If we take one down, we have to take everyone down."  Gee , that would be a shame Brian. Countless web sites have materialized  in the last few years giving property information to anyone willing to give their name and a fake phone nu...
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