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.