Redondo Beach real estate trends

Wondering Why You Can’t Find that Dream Home in the South Bay?

It’s no secret that it’s a frustrating world out there for home buyers.  Oh how quickly things turned from a strong buyers market to a market clearly favoring sellers.  According to Redondo Beach Realtor Keith Kyle “There is incredibly low inventory everywhere and the high demand areas of the South Bay such as Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach have little to offer buyers at the moment”.  To make life even more frustrating for Beach Cities home buyers, is that the moment a well priced home comes on the market, the frenzy starts with buyers often going way over asking price, waiving the appraisal contingency and simply buying homes above current market value.  The chart below sums it up pretty clearly with the number of active homes for sale in the South Bay plummeting from over 1500 a year ago to just over 600 in December of 2012.  This is while the number of closed sales has remained steady.

To view the current homes for sale visit our South Bay MLS search, or click our recent home sale page to see the most recent home sales in the South Bay cities of Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo Beach, Torrance, El Segundo and surrounding areas.

Gated community of Fusion South Bay

Fusion South Bay Townhome Inventory Finally on the Rise

Townhomes for sale in Fusion South Bay

Fusion South Bay, the townhome community in the Hollyglen area of Hawthorne built in 2006 and 2007, has seen large fluctuations in inventory and demand and lately we’ve seen more of the same.  The complex had been hit with a wave of foreclosures and short sales in 2011 and parts of 2012 which had driven prices way down and demand along with it.  The last quarter of 2012 saw the market pick up considerable with few homes on the market but that appears to be changing.  We’ve seen several listings in January and prices seem to be on the rise as well.  Click on the homes below to see the current townhomes for sale in Fusion South Bay.
Gated community of Fusion South Bay
Redondo Beach foreclosures

The Days Of Redondo Beach Short Sales May Be Winding Down

Although the South Bay and certainly the Beach Cities were fairly protected fromRedondo Beach foreclosures the wave of short sales and bank foreclosures that plummeted prices in other areas of California, there were opportunities out there.  As Redondo Beach is both larger than neighboring Hermosa and Manhattan Beach, and typically caters to more first time home buyers, it felt the foreclosure brunt the most and it wasn’t a challenge to find “deals” on such properties.  Gone may be the days of short sale deals and homes selling below market value, as the inventory of both standard sales, and distressed home sales has continued to decline while demand has grown.  The influx of investors buying up short sale and foreclosures added to the pressure.  As of December 2011 there were 46 active short sales and foreclosures in Redondo Beach and just a year later the inventory was down to 9 distressed sales.  This will likely lead to rising prices as these short sales were the driving factor behind the declining prices over the past few years.

Search for homes

I found a home to show you!…..how showing homes has changed in this market

It wasn’t long ago that a client wanting to look at homes in the South Bay often meant a day long journey of looking at the abundance of available homes and trying to narrow down which one had the fewest objections to the buyer. As there were so many homes on the market, and every day meant new options, buyers could lose interest over the smallest details.

My how things have changed. Now when a client calls to say they want to look at all of the homes in their price range there are few, if any to see. The excitement comes now when you can say, “I found one!” and you actually have a home to show. It’s certainly never a dull moment in real estate and maybe someday there will be a more balanced market…I’ve been told they once existed.

To see the latest chart showing a good example of how there’s nothing to see visit lack of starter homes for sale in Redondo Beach post.

Looking for a starter home in Redondo Beach?….this may take a while….

**Please note that this post is from 2013 and the market and home prices have changed dramatically since then**

I have a number of buyers looking in Redondo Beach for a single family home under $750,000. Normally that’s not too difficult to find and it’s more a question of specific location, or style, etc. The problem now is that single family homes in this price range, which would be considered “starter homes” in Redondo, can be difficult, if not impossible, to find. It hasn’t been easy lately to explain to buyers (many of whom start the search in Hermosa Beach but find themselves priced out) that there just are no homes to buy. The chart below paints a pretty bleak inventory picture with almost nothing to buy, and the few that are priced below $750,000 are not at all what they are looking for.

The chart below shows all single family homes for sale, pending and sold in the $750,000 and under price range in Redondo Beach.  The teal line represents the active homes for sale in Redondo Beach and it’s pretty clear that there are few, if any, real opportunities.  According to Redondo Beach realtor Keith Kyle, “until sellers decide that this is an optimal time to list their homes for sale, this trend of low inventory and high demand will continue.”

Kids activities in Redondo Beach

Done the right way….we sell more than just houses….

With the dawn of a new year, it really got me thinking about what we do as Realtors and why, If done with the right motives, it’s so rewarding.  In the stresses of an escrow, or in the challenges of a day of showing houses, it’s easy to lose sight of what selling a home can mean and for many it’s just another “deal”.  But that’s not at all what this is about.  I work with many first time home buyers and it is no exaggeration to think that this decision that I’m helping them make is nothing short of life altering.  The home someone chooses is more than just granite counters, 2.5 bathrooms, corner lot, fixer or turn key….it is choosing a neighborhood, choosing neighbors, choosing schools, and even choosing a lifestyle.   It’s about people…the people the home buyer doesn’t even know yet that may end up being friends for life.

Have you ever checked in on past clients years later and met the neighbors or school friends, or met the son or daughters best friend from next door?  These are people that may be in our clients lives forever…and it was partially due to a decision we helped them make.  Yes we sell houses, but it is so much more than that.  Every client we have deserves to be treated with this understanding and not only will it likely help your business, it makes real estate and selling homes one of the more rewarding jobs imaginable in my eyes.

Keith Kyle is a residential real estate specialist with South Bay Brokers in Manhattan Beach, CA

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