The Three Sections of Manhattan Beach, and Who Each One Is For

Manhattan Beach gets discussed as one market. It is three, and they have almost nothing in common except the school district and the zip code.

The Sand Section

West of Sepulveda, down to the water. Small lots, a lot of them thirty by ninety. This is where the walk streets are, the pedestrian-only lanes running perpendicular to the ocean with houses fronting onto them.

The walk streets command a premium and they deserve it. No cars, kids playing outside, and a front door that opens onto something other than asphalt. If you have never been on one, go stand on one before you decide what you think about Manhattan Beach.

The Strand is the top of the market. Everything else in town prices in relation to it.

What you give up in the Sand Section is space and parking. What you get is a two block walk to the ocean.

The Tree Section

East of Sepulveda, north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Larger lots, more trees, more yard. This is where families go when the Sand Section stops making sense with two kids and a dog.

You are driving to the beach instead of walking. You are getting a house with a backyard for it.

The Hill Section

Between the two, on the slope. The largest lots in the city and the largest houses. Views from the higher elevations. This is the most expensive per square foot outside the Strand and it trades thinly.

What all three share

Manhattan Beach Unified. It is the reason a great many people are here and it holds value through market cycles better than almost anything else about the town.

What people get wrong

They shop by price across all three sections and end up comparing a Sand Section townhome to a Tree Section house at the same number, as if those are the same purchase. They are not. They suit different lives.

Decide which section fits how you actually live, then shop inside it.

What sells and what sits

New construction sells. There has been a great deal of it in the Sand Section, and buyers here have shown consistently that they will pay for turnkey.

Original condition on a good lot sells to builders.

What sits is the middle. A house that was renovated fifteen years ago, to the standard of fifteen years ago, on a lot that does not justify a teardown. That is the hardest thing to price in this town and it is where sellers get in trouble.

Before you buy

Understand the setback and height rules for the specific lot. This city regulates closely and what you can build is not obvious from looking at the neighbors.

Call me at (310) 861-3459.