Manhattan Beach Pending Sales Point To Slump

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced a 30% drop in pending home sales in May, as home buyer tax credits expired. Given that Manhattan Beach real estate ranks on the luxury end of the spectrum, how have expiration of the tax credit programs impacted Manhattan Beach pending home sales?

Pending home sales data from SoCalMLS does not paint the same dismal picture for Manhattan Beach. A total of 32 properties are listed in pending status, with 28 of them being single family residence (SFR), and 4 being condominiums:

Comparing this to June sales data, a few things jump out right away. Homes are selling much faster now than over the previous few months, with average days on market (DOM) dropping from 83 to 37 for SFR’s. The above data is for properties in pending status,  so even if we assume an average of another 30 days before the bulk of these sales close escrow, we are well below the previous DOM average of 83.

Manhattan Beach sales volume seems to mirror what’s going on at the national level. Assuming that 75 percent of pending sales close in July puts July sales estimates at 21 SFR’s, which is exactly 30 percent below average sales volume over the last three months.

Median home prices for pending sales are roughly 5% below second quarter (Q2) 2010 values of $1,675,000 when all Manhattan Beach sections are considered.