In my post from yesterday (“Hermosa Beach Real Estate Activity in October 2009″), I took a look at the home sales activity for the city of Hermosa Beach for this past month. I concluded that homes are selling at a faster pace now than they have been in some time and that the homes in escrow have an average sales price above the challenging average value of 2008. The average days on market was 115 days through September, but only 75 days for the homes that sold in October. In effect, there is more movement and it is happening at more favorable prices. Today I was thinking about the current inventory and how long these homes have been on the market. Interestingly, about a quarter of the homes for sale now have been on the market for over six months (I am looking at when they first were put on the market in determining total days). What surprised me is that there is no clear reason why the homes that have been on this long are still active and so the reasons are probably unique for each home. The following seven homes are those that have been listed for over six months now:
541 Gravely Ct. - $710 K
The home at 541 Gravely Ct. has been on the market for over 200 days from first listing date. The initial asking price has not shifted during this time. The asking price of $710 K comes out to $703 per sq. ft., which is arguably high for the area given that the average sales price for homes sold in Hermosa Beach East this year-to-date comes in at just over $500 per sq. ft. This home is about 1,000 sq. ft. so there may be potential to add more space.
1016 5th St. - $750 K
The second home, located at 1016 5th St., has been on the market for almost 230 days. This home has had a listing price of $750 K for this entire period, which is about $526 per sq. ft. This is in line with the average in this area thus far this year.
1221 11th Place - $819,969
The home available on 11th Place has an asking price of just under $820 K, down from the initial asking price of about $850 K. It has been on the market for just over six months and is priced below the average price here on a per sq. ft. basis. However, this is a Short Pay situation, one of three covered in this post.
1719 Prospect - $890 K
Our fourth home is another Short Pay sale. It has been on the market for close to 340 days and appears to be aggressively priced at $399 per sq. ft. The original list price has been dropped from $1.295 M to $890 K.
1118 Prospect - $1.15 M
House number five on our list of the homes testing the waters is also located on Prospect and happens to be a Short Pay as well. The asking price has not shifted in the over 270 days this home has been on the market. It appears to be fairly priced at $460 per sq. ft.
1018 17th St. - $1.289 M
The home on 17th St. appears to be priced well at under $400 per sq. ft. It has been on the market for over 230 days and was built in 2005. The price has dropped from $1.449 M to $1.289 M.
544 Gravely Ct. - $1.329 M
The final home we are tracking has been for sale for over 620 days. The original list price was $1.589 M but this has dropped to $1.329 M, which comes out at just over $430 per sq. ft.
So there you have it, the seven homes that are hanging in there. All of them have been on the market for over six months. With only one or two exceptions, they all seem to be somewhat reasonably priced on paper. It is interesting to note that three of the seven are Short Pay sales. It is quite possible that this status or the nature of the involved note holders presents added challenges for the sale of these homes. One final note, these seven homes are represented by seven different real estate companies, thereby ruling out any firm-wide particular pricing strategies as a reason for the extended time on the market.
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