Asking Prices Have Increased Much More Than Selling Prices

By MICHAEL EDLEN | Special to the Palisadian-Post

As of June 30, 94 single-family Palisades residences were listed in the Multiple Listing Service. The current level of inventory is 4% higher than last year’s June 30 available inventory.

A total of 196 homes were sold in the Palisades in the first half of 2021, which is a 139% increase from 2020’s pandemic-affected first half of the year. Median sale prices ($3,712,500) were up 12% from 2020’s first half.

The median list price is currently $5.74 million—31% higher than this time last year. There are currently 49 escrows open in the Palisades, which is 36% more than the end of the second quarter last year.

The lowest-priced residence available is a three-bedroom, two-bath home on Las Casas Avenue, which is being offered at $1.98 million. The highest-priced available property is a seven-bedroom, 12-bathroom on Amalfi Drive, which is listed at $46.5 million.

The most affordable areas so far in 2021 are the Sunset Mesa/Pacific View Estates and the Highlands neighborhoods. The Upper Bienveneda/Marquez area currently has the largest number of homes for sale in the Palisades.

The lowest sale price for the second quarter of 2021 was on Sunset Boulevard ($1.47 million). The highest sale ($25.15 million) so far this year was on Corona Del Mar in the Huntington.

There are 15 condominiums/townhouses on the market, which is 25% fewer than what was available at the end of the first half in 2020. They range from a one-bedroom, one-bath on Sunset being offered at $629,000 to a three-bedroom, four-bath that is new construction on Tramonto for $5.5 million.

Fifty-five condominiums were sold in the Palisades since the start of the year (a 103% increase from last year), ranging from a one-bedroom, one-bath on Sunset, which sold for $625,500, to a three-bedroom, four-bath on Tramonto, which sold for $5.3 million. The median sales price for condos at the end of the first half was $1.3 million, which is up 11% over 2020 first half median sales prices.

There are currently four pieces of raw land available, ranging from $425,000 for a 900-square-foot lot on PCH to $10,595,000 for a 42,000-square-foot lot on Sunset Boulevard. Two lots have sold so far this year.

There are currently 43 available leases in the Palisades (a 47% decrease over the first half of 2020), starting at $3,600 per month for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit on Sunset Boulevard and asking as high as $80,000 per month for a seven-bedroom, 10-bath house on Amalfi Drive in the Riviera.

There were 140 Palisades leases done in the first half of 2021 (a 77% increase from last year’s first half), ranging from a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit on Sunset, which leased for $1,895 per month, to a six-bedroom, eight-bath on Amalfi Drive, which leased for $70,000 per month. The current median lease price is approximately $8,250 per month.

Michael Edlen, an agent with Coldwell Banker, has been keeping statistics of Pacific Palisades housing prices for the last 35 years.