The South Bay Association of Realtor reported that overall housing sales (single family homes, condos/townhouses, residential income) in Redondo Beach in 2008 were down 34% compared to 2007. SBA recorded 651 sales in 2008 compared to 989 sold in 2007. The drop in homes sold has had a big impact on the number of listings on the market as well. For the month of December only 230 properties were listed as active for sale down from a 2008 peak of 385 in May.

2008 Redondo Beach Real Estate Sales

As the year progressed the median sold price declined steadily falling from a peak of $797,000 in January down to $680,000 in December.

2008 Median Housing Sold Price for Redondo Beach

One of the few encouraging trends was the increase in percentage of sold price to original listing price. Clearly sellers were forced to re-evaluate their price expectations, which likely is directly related to the drop in for for sale inventory as the year progressed.

Redondo Beach Sale/List Price for 2008

Redondo Beach Housing Inventory December 2008

According to the South Bay Association of Realtor overall housing sales (single family homes, condos/townhouses, residential income) in Hermosa Beach in 2008 were down 37% compared to 2007, 157 total sales versus 249 in 2007.   December of 2008 showed some signs of life in the market with 12 sales compared to only 7 in December 2007. 2008 stareted out extremely slow with only 6 sales in January 2008. The summer months once again proved to be the most active time of year peaking in August with 19 sales.

Hermosa Beach Real Estate Sales for 2008

The median price paid for real estate in Hermosa in December 2008 was $1,125,000. The median price fluctuated widely throughout the year in large part due to the low number of homes sold in any given month. The percentage of sold price to original list price increased slightly throughout the year reaching 98% in December. The low median price and high percentage of original/sold price indicates that seller pricing became more inline with what the market was willing to pay.

Hermosa Beach Median Home Sale Price 2008

Hermosa Beach Housing Original List/Sold Price 2008

With the uptick in home sales and the drop in overall inventory available for sale the supply of homes available for sale assuming no new entries dropped in December to 7.2 months from 8.5 months in November. Although still technically a buyers market the trend gives home sellers some hope for a better 2009.

Hermosa Beach Housing Inventory 2008

* All reports presented are based on data supplied by the South Bay Association of Realtor or its MLS. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in anyway responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activities in the market. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

The final numbers for the Torrance real estate market in 2008 are in and although it was a tough year for home sellers there were some interesting market developments towards the end of the year that may indicate a brighter 2009 for sellers.

According to the South Bay Association of Realtor overall sales for the year were down 15% compared to 2007.   The month of December saw 68 sales (singe family homes, condos/townhouses, and residential income) down from a 2008 high of 109 sales in August.

Torrance Real Estate Sales for 2008

The original listing price/sale price percentage started the year at 92% and steadily rose throughout the year before settling into a 96-98% range the last quarter. This is most likely due to a combination of factors including lowered initial pricing that more accurately reflected the market demand, lower mortgage rates, and a drop in the inventory of properties on the market.

Torrance Original List Price/Sold Price Ratio 2008

Typically a supply of six months or more home inventory indicates a buyers market, three months or less a sellers market with a 3-6 month supply neutral. The drop in inventory throughout 2008 changed the market in Torrance from a strong buyers market at the start of the year to a neutral market that was clearly trending towards the seller side in December. This combined with low interest rates and a potential increase in the conforming loan limit could push the market to the sellers advantage in 2009.

Torrance Housing Supply 2008

* All reports presented are based on data supplied by the South Bay Association of Realtor or its MLS. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in anyway responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activities in the market. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

The final numbers from the South Bay Association of Realtor for the Manhattan Beach real estate market in 2008 reveal just how tough a year it was for home sellers. The year started with a less than stellar 14 home sales (single family homes, condos/townhomes, and residential income) for the month of January and ended with 14 sales in December. November was even worse with only 13 total sales. If you were looking to sell summer was definitely your best bet as both June and August produced 38 sales and July saw another 31 homes sold.

Manhattan Beach Home Sales for 2008

Based on the December sales/supply rate the supply of homes in the market assuming no new entries would last 13.7 months up from 10.1 months at the start of the year but down from the peak of 17.3 months seen in November.

Manhattan Beach Home Inventory for 2008

However despite the overall gloom in 2008 the year ended with some signs that the Manhattan Beach market might have hit bottom. The average price of a sold home actually increased .6% from the start of the year. More telling the percentage of sale price to original list price increased from 91% in January to 96% in December. This could be a product of several factors, more realistic pricing expectations from owners among them, but it does indicate some stabilization in home prices. Although the month isn’t even half over measured by our own call volume and increase in showings it does appear that the start of 2009 is seeing an uptick in home buying activity.

Manhattan Beach List to Sale Price % for 2008

Manhattan Beach Sale/List % Change 2008

* All reports presented are based on data supplied by the South Bay Association of Realtor or its MLS. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in anyway responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activities in the market. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

In 2008 Shorewood Realtors remained the top brokerage in the South Bay with 967 total unit sales (single family homes, condos/townhouses, residential income, and land/lot) valued at $1,088,259,000. Both figures topped all South Bay brokerages.Remax Palos Verdes Realty was second in both categories with 778 total sales valued at $783,913,000.

South Bay Brokerage Results 2008

Overall the sales for the Top 18 South Bay Brokerages dropped dramatically in 2008 compared to 2007. Total unit sales were down 18.3% in 2008. Of even greater significance was the 33.3% drop in total dollar value of all properties sold in 2008. Although 2008 was without a doubt a trying year for South Bay home sellers there was some good news in December.

Total unit sales for the top 18 brokerages were up 18.4% over December of 2007. The value of those sales was still down 14.7% over the previous year but with increased sales activity there should be a slowing in the free fall of home values seen through most of 2008. Combine that with the current low mortgage rates and 2009 may be the year real estate stabilizes in the South Bay.