Sunday, December 30, 2007

Manhattan Beach: Market Snapshot December 30, 2007


Manhattan Beach Tree Section

2007 is almost over and it's been quite a year. We have seen a complete change in the market since the credit crunch started in August. Real estate prices in Manhattan Beach and the Beach Cities have held up fairly well considering the overall California and national real estate market.

Prices have been trending downward but the Beach Cities and Manhattan Beach appear to be doing better then other neighborhoods in the South Bay. We have seen an increase in short sales in Redondo Beach but not many in El Segundo, Hermosa or Manhattan. The same seems to be true for foreclosures.. there have been some in the Beach Cities but few in Manhattan Beach.

Sales are sluggish at best and days on market in every neighborhood but Manhattan Village tell the tale.. The CDOM(Cumulative Days on Market) for homes currently for sale in Manhattan Beach is 138 days. The CDOM for sold properties is 92 and for pending sales the number is 108. These numbers may be on the low side as many properties have been relisted with a new agent and therefor have a new start date.

Inventory is still well below the same time last year and as lousy as this year appears to be it seems that it ranks as the fifth largest sales year in history. Hmmmm..if this is the fifth biggest sales year in history then maybe 2008 should be seen as approaching a normal market rather then one that is crash diving. Now that's an interesting thought and one sure to drive many crazy.

The fact is that our market, while not anything near the levels we saw a few years ago, still isn't in big trouble.. trouble yes... but certainly not approaching catastrophic levels. If we see a lot of problems with loan re-sets next Spring our market could definitely be affected. We are definitely seeing a smaller and fussier buyer pool then in previous years. However the key is that there are still buyers who are actually buying homes. Closed sales this month are better then last month. Rates are still incredibly low although loans are going to be harder to obtain for those who have not made good financial choices. As for next year... well more about that next year.

Manhattan Beach: Market Snapshot December 30, 2007( click on graph to enlarge)


Manhattan Beach Price Ranges December 30, 2007
Manhattan Beach: Market Snapshot September 15, 2007
Manhattan Beach: Market Snapshot May 6, 2007

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Sales are sluggish at best..."

Sales volume is a leading indicator of price.

Kaye said...

Anonymous 12:11,
You are right which is why prices have remained flat in some areas and declined in others.