The local Manhattan Beach real estate market has remained stable throughout 2024, according to statistics for the first three quarters of the year published by Manhattan Beach Confidential.

One year ago, the median home price in town was $2.787 million, and as of Sept. 30, 2024, it was within $12,000 of that figure, at $2.775 million. There has been little variation throughout the year, according to the MB Confidential post, authored by Dave Fratello, local real estate broker with Edge Real Estate Agency. 

While 2023-24 has seen a stable median price, this period follows a steep and sudden drop in the city's median price soon after May 2023, when the figure had stood 12% higher at $3.166 million.

Slightly More Sales This Year

After 2023 saw the lowest number of sales in many years (253 total versus a typical average near 400 sales), this year has seen marginally more closed sales.

"We saw 216 sales close here in 2024 in the first 3 quarters," Fratello wrote, "better than the 202 that closed in 2023 over the same period. But that's still too close for comfort."

The MB Confidential blog has frequently cited two main reasons for the slower-than-usual market over the past two years. Ultimately, they both trace back to somewhat higher mortgage interest rates. First, potential sellers have been less willing to consider a move, because selling their homes would mean giving up an ultra-low mortgage rate of 3.0% or lower. Second, buyers have been deterred by mortgage rates that have been as high as the 7-8% range, although rates have stepped down considerably in recent months. Many buyers can now obtain a mortgage of 6.0% or lower.

Despite modest sales totals, sales of high-priced properties have taken off recently in Manhattan Beach. 

At least 10 high-end sales of $8 million and higher – including the city's highest-ever sale at $24.500 million – have occurred in the second half of 2024. 

"[T]he later part of the year has been a great deal busier at the high end than the first part of the year," Fratello wrote in his latest post. MB Confidential first noted the trend in August in a post called "MB's Higher End Is Moving." There, he noted: "Our market's often led by the high end. These buyers are the first to declare that the water's fine."

See All 2024 Sales in One Chart

If you're curious about how many homes sell in Manhattan Beach at various price points, you might find one or two charts in the latest MB Confidential post interesting. 

The chart below shows every sale of the first three quarters on a "scatter plot."

Within the original post, Fratello also presents a version of this chart with the median home price ($2.775M) placed along the chart. All of these views help to show where sales appear to be concentrated (in the $1.7M-$3.0M range), while accounting for all of the much higher sales that make up about half of the local market.