Redondo Beach Home Sales For the First Quarter 2010

A month has passed since my last update onyear. Sales rose modestly from 12 to 15 homes
Redondo Beach home sales. In my post Redondoof all types. The cost of entry to buy in here for
Beach February Home Sales, I suggested thatthe quarter was $571,000 for a single family
home prices, which had been relatively flathome with less than 800 sq. ft. on Ford Ave. A
compared to last year, might inch up a little givenfour bedroom home on Stanford Ave. with 2,300
the encouraging escrow activity in late February.sq. ft. came in at $838,000, making it the most
Sure enough, the escrows that closed this pastexpensive priced sale for the last few months.
month sufficiently boosted the median sale priceIn general, prices rise when moving to the south
for the first quarter up by just under six percentpart of Redondo Beach. For the area North of
from the same time frame last year. The medianTorrance Blvd., sales rose from 17 during the first
price for all home types closing escrow last yearquarter of last year to 24 this year. Median prices
was $640,000 on 135 sales.went up a few percent to $717,000. The lowest
This year, the number of closings has jumped topriced sale was from a one bedroom single family
172 and the median price has lifted as well,home with about 500 sq. ft. of living space on
reaching $676,500. To add context to this withinGuadalupe. This home brought $378,000. A brand
the beach cities, the median prices for the firstnew four bedroom home on Irena with 2,700 sq.
quarter for Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beachft. of living space came in at $1 million for the
were $1.4 million and $1 million, respectively. Anmost expensive sale.
additional sign of encouragement for the area isThe area South of Torrance Blvd. did not see a
the fact that there are 154 active escrows andchange in the number of sales from last year.
the level of inventory has been holding its own atBoth quarters had 17 sales of all home types, but
236 or just over four month's worth. Pricethe change in median price was the greatest
increases, however, have not been recognized inincrease for all parts of Redondo Beach. Last year
all of the sub-areas of Redondo Beach.the median price came in at $630,000, but this
Of the eight sub-areas within Redondo Beach, sixgrew by 19 percent going into this year. At
of them have had median price increases from$750,000, this area has the second highest
last year. All of the areas have either maintainedmedian price for home sales. The lowest sale
the number of closings or have had an increasecame from a small 669 sq. ft. condo on Prospect
from last year.with a final price of $302,000. The highest price
In the Villas North area of what many times issale was on Helberta for a 3,600 sq. ft., four
referred to as North Redondo Beach, the numberbedroom home. The price at close of escrow
of closings jumped from 34 last year to 42 forwas $1.925 million.
the first quarter. This area is one of the two inFor the area West of PCH, which happens to
the city that had a drop in values, though it washave the lowest percentage of single family
no more than a percent or so. The median saleshomes relative to all home types for all areas in
price is just below $630,000 for all home types.the South Bay, sales went up from 19 to 21.
Prices this quarter ranged from $284,000 for aMedian prices climbed from $672,000 to $720,000
small one bedroom condo on Artesia Blvd. to justfor these past few months. A loft in the The
over $1 million for a four bedroom single familyVillage with only 410 sq. ft. sold for $295,000 and,
home on Gates Ave. The price for the condotherefore, holds title to the least expensive home
may very well be the lowest price for any typesale in this area. A four bedroom condo on the
of home in the entire South Bay this past quarter.Esplanade managed to take the top prize with a
On the opposite side of Artesia Blvd. the Villas$1.575 million closing price.
South area experienced a jump in closed salesLast, but not least, is the portion of Hollywood
from 23 to 30 for the quarter. Prices ticked up byRiviera in Redondo Beach. Sales doubled from last
a thread to $637,000. A 1,200 sq. ft. home soldyear, though from a low six to 12. The median
for $386,500, making it the lowest priced saleprice numbers may not be very credible,
here for the quarter. It was a townhome withhowever, given these low numbers of homes
3,000 sq. ft. on Blossom Lane that took the topsold. The median price for the last quarter was
spot with a final price of $965,000.the highest in all of Redondo Beach by a wide
A third area in North Redondo Beach, El Nino, alsomargin, coming in at $924,000. The lowest sale
had increases in both median price and number ofprice for here was $625,000 for a three bedroom
sales, but not a significant amount. Closed salestownhome with close to 1,900 sq. ft. on Palos
went from seven to 11, while the median priceVerdes Blvd. The most expensive sales price in all
went up one percent to $555,000. The lowestof Redondo Beach for the quarter was $1.972
priced sale for the quarter was for $486,000 formillion for a 4,000 sq. ft. home with six bedrooms
a two bedroom townhome on Meyer Lane. Onon Calle Miramar.
the other hand, the most expensive sale was justThe volume of sales and the increase in median
over $1 million for a five bedroom single familysales price for the city seem to indicate that
home with 3,500 sq. ft. on Ives Lane.Redondo Beach may have turned the corner
The priciest area on the north side of town isfrom a very challenging 2009. We'll see if the
Golden Hills, with a recent median sales price ofimpressive backlog of homes in escrow can widen
$726,000. This is up solidly from $648,000 lastthe gap between this year and last year.