April, May Escrows Top 50 Each Month

As of May 31, there were 73 single-family Pacific Palisades residences listed in the Multiple Listing Service, which is 38 percent lower than this time last year. So far this year, 117 Palisades homes have sold, and there are 57 in escrow.
We have just experienced a new two-month record in the number of escrows opened. In April and May there were more than 50 new escrows each month, a level that has occurred only twice in the last 10 years (March 2004 and June 2012). At the current rate of sales here, there are only two months of inventory below $3,000,000—an exceedingly low level that we have rarely experienced.
Meanwhile, median sale prices are currently $2,237,500, compared to $1,842,500 a year ago. The average sale price per square foot has increased by 14 percent as compared with the same period in 2012, and is now at $789 per square foot.
The lowest-priced available home is a 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath on Las Casas Avenue at $1,100,000. The highest-priced property is a 30-acre horse property off Pacific Coast Highway, asking $19,000,00. This home has been on the market for over 2-1/2 years.
The lowest sale price so far this year was a 2-bedroom, 1-bath on Sunset Boulevard, which sold for $785,000. The highest sale has been a 6-bedroom, 8.5-bath on Toyopa Drive in the Huntington, which sold for $8,000,000.
There are 17 condominiums/townhouses on the market. They range from a 2-bedroom, 2-bath on Sunset (offered at $535,000) to a 3-bedroom, 4-bath condo in the newly completed Rockwell Development on Sunset near PCH for $3,850,000. Seventeen condos are currently in escrow. There have been 26 condo sales in 2013, ranging from $485,000 for a 2-bedroom, 2-bath on Sunset, to $1,150,000 for a 2-bedroom, 3-bath on Haverford Avenue. The median condo sales price is $750,000, which is 12% higher than a year ago.
There are currently 20 pieces of raw land available, ranging from 4,800 square foot lot on Revello, being offered at $99,900 to $14,900,000 for approximately 2 acres on Corona Del Mar, which has been on the market for more than 2.5 years. There are four lots pending sale.
There are currently 36 available leases in the Palisades, ranging from a 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath on Palisades Circle (asking $3,500 monthly) to an 8-bedroom, 13-bath home on San Remo asking $120,000 monthly (this property is currently in escrow as a sale). There have been 102 leases so far this year. The highest lease so far this year was a 6-bedroom, 8-bath on Via La Costa in Highlands’ Enclave for $62,500 per month, and the lowest was $1,900 per month for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath on Castellammare.

  Michael Edlen, an agent with Coldwell Banker, has been keeping statistics on Pacific Palisades housing prices for the last 27 years.