In-Depth Look at Single Family Home Sales Data for July

The summer keeps humming along on the Westside and in Manhattan Beach. Sales were down slightly compared to last month but thanks to record low interest rates and tight inventory, multiple offers are still the buzz. The overall average difference between original list price and selling price was -8.33%, which is lower than last months’ -10.07%.

Both of those numbers are inflated by sales on the ultra high end that were way overpriced. For instance, you will notice that in Bel-Air the % difference between the original list price to the selling price is an alarming -39%. This is due to one sale that occurred @ 594 S. Mapleton Drive between heiress Petra Eccelstone and Caro Spelling. This huge 14 bedroom, 27 bath, 56,500 sq ft. house was listed on 9/1/10 for $150M and sold on 7/14/11 for $85M. If you dismiss some of these larger sales that should have never been listed at the current list price, the difference between original list price and sale price shrinks to around -6.5% which is close to the -5% in a healthy market.

Sales dropped slightly from the previous month, however, most areas stayed consistent with last months’ numbers with the following exceptions:

Santa Monica had a great month with 21 more sales then last month. Half of the homes sold within 60 days of the list price, and the average% difference between the original list price and the selling price was only 6%. Almost all the homes in Santa Monica that sold for more than $2.5M sold within two weeks of coming on the market.

Culver City sales were also up from last month with the average% difference between the original list price and the selling price only 5%.

On the other side of the spectrum, Pacific Palisades sales were lower than last month with the majority of properties selling within 90 days of the listing date. Brentwood sales were considerably lower as well and the average % difference between the original list price and the selling price was much higher at 11% with properties on the market for a longer period of time.

Though Manhattan Beach and Mar Vista dipped against last month’s numbers they are still holding strong in terms of volume. In fact this is the second straight month that Manhattan Beach outpaced sales for the month compared to 2007 and 2005.