Real Estate in the Beach Cities: January 2011

Last summer the beaches of Hermosa Beach and Southern California were made a bit more colorful with the "summer of color" and the brightly painted lifeguard towers.  Now the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation is turning those panels into money for the schools and will be auctioning off the colorful panels in February.  In addition the auction will benefit the Hermosa Beach Arts Foundation and Portraits of hope.  Click here for a printable flyer.

Keith Kyle is a licensed Realtor, short sale specialist and Top Producer with South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach.  He serves his clients throughout the South Bay and his websites KeithKyleHomes.com, ManhattanBeachLuxuryRealEstate.com and FindYourSouthBayHome.com offer the most comprehensive real estate websites in the South Bay with free MLS access, current home listings, open houses, recent home sales information and more.  Keith can be reached at 310-251-2344 or by email at info@KeithKyleHomes.com.  For more information on the South Bay, visit my Beach Cities Real Estate blog.

The market in Manhattan Village, the private gated community in Manhattan Beach CA, has continued to be quite active in the past few months, and early signs in 2011 seem to be showing a continuation of this activity.  Currently there is a very nice mix of floorplans and styles on the market with 4 courthomes, 2 townhomes, and 2 single family homes for sale.  Visit our Manhattan Village real estate site for more information, floorplans, and maps of beautiful community.  Click any property below for more information.

Below is a chart of recent Manhattan Village home sales and prices as well as information on the homes currently in escrow.

With the South Bay real estate market picking up steam quickly visiting open houses may be a good way to determine whether now is the right time to ramp up the home search.  The past few Redondo Beach open house weekends have been a bit slow due to the holidays but this weekend has something for everyone.  Click below to see this weeks open houses and if any of the open houses look interesting you can either visit our Redondo Beach real estate page with current listings, details and photographs, or contact us for a detailed and customized home search.

Keith Kyle is a licensed Realtor, short sale specialist and Top Producer with South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach.  He serves his clients throughout the South Bay and his websites KeithKyleHomes.com, ManhattanBeachLuxuryRealEstate.com and FindYourSouthBayHome.com offer the most comprehensive real estate websites in the South Bay with free MLS access, current home listings, open houses, recent home sales information and more.  Keith can be reached at 310-251-2344 or by email at info@KeithKyleHomes.com.  For more information on the South Bay, visit my Beach Cities Real Estate blog.

Manhattan Beach is an absolutely ideal place to call home endless housing possibilities.  From oceanfront "Strand" homes to charming cottages in the tree section, Manhattan has the right home for everyone.  Within Manhattan Beach is the community of Manhattan Village.  Manhattan Village is truly a world of it's own and is ideal for those looking for a small community feel with quiet and safe streets.   Manhattan Village is a gated community that is ideally located near shopping, golf, the beach and a shorter commute than most of the South Bay.  The lush landscaping, multiple pools and proximity to the beach provides a safe and tranquil coastal living.   Manhattan Village offers three distinct type homes with varying square footage and layouts in each. 

Court Homes- The Court Homes in Manhattan Village offer what most would consider true townhomes with shared walls on the sides.  These court homes surround common area parking and each offers a private patio and outdoor area surrounded by lush landscaping with easy access to community pools and spas.  The courthomes are contemporary split-level layouts and many feature golf course and tree top views.  Courthomes range in price from the mid to high $700,000s up to $1,100,000 depending on size, upgrades and view.  See below for floorplans.  Click here to view the current Manhattan Village court homes for sale.

Court Home Plan 1       Court Home Plan 2          Courthome Plan 3           Courthome Plan 4     

Townhomes- The townhomes of Manhattan Village are traditional side-by-side living.  The homes all feature private patios, attached garages and lush landscaping.  Many homes offer beautiful golf course views and all offer peaceful and tranquil surroundings.  There are four styles of townhomes ranging from single level 2 bedroom homes with 1450 square feet to 3 bedroom 2 story homes with over 2000 square feet.  Townhomes in Manhattan Village generally range from the mid $1,100,000 range to over $1,400,000 depending on size, upgrades and views.   Click here to see current Manhattan Village townhomes for sale.

Townhome Plan 5          Townhome Plan 6         Townhome Plan 7          Townhome Plan 8

Estate Homes - we will be adding information on the Estate Homes in Manhattan Village shortly but you can click here to see the current homes for sale in Manhattan Village

Keith Kyle - Realtor, e-Pro - South Bay Brokers- 2501 N Sepulveda Blvd Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 - 310-251-2344 - Keith.Kyle@SouthBayBrokers.com

For real estate information, open houses, and FREE MLS access visit www.KeithKyleHomes.com

I have many clients contact me about "foreclosures" in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach and I often have to go into the details of what this means and that foreclosures generally can mean anything from notice of defaults filed, to short sales listed on the MLS, to bank auctions, to actual REOs or bank owned homes.  Each have their own challenges but most of the time they're primarily looking for bank owned homes.  Although short sales have gotten much easier and quicker in most cases, bank owned homes are a much more straightforward transaction as most of the unknowns, as to what the lender will actually do if anything, are not a question.  They have their own set of unique challenges but they are much closer to a traditional sale than short sales.  In the past two years we've seen an increase in "foreclosures" in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach but most often they are short sales.  Recently, however that seems to be changing and currently of the 26 "distressed" listings 9 are bank owned or REO properties. That's a number the area hasn't seen in the past. To see details and descriptions visit Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach short sale and foreclosure listings page.

While the effects of the market slow down and minor rise in interest rates can be felt throughout the Hermosa Beach housing market, the greatest impact has been in the condo market.  With very high inventory and a very limited number of buyers, the condo market has been very slow for most of 2010 as even well priced properties have a limited demand.

Currently there are 18 condos on the market of which there are 3 shortsales and 2 bank owned properties which is much higher than the avererage on single family homes in Hermosa.  There are a very limited number of condo complexes and you can learn more by visiting our Hermosa Beach condo tour.  Many of the condos including the 1720 Ardmore The Apple Tree, and the 1600 Ardmore The Commodore are ideally located both near the beach and near pier plaza.

Current Hermosa Beach Active Listings

Current Pending Home Sales

Closed Sales Since October 2010