Lowest Listing Is $1,535,000

When we began the fourth quarter, 72 single-family Pacific Palisades residences were listed in the Multiple Listing Service. This level of inventory is 28 percent lower than the available inventory last October 1. A total of 258 homes have sold in the Palisades this year, and median sale prices are up by 16 percent from a year ago. The median list price is at $3,750,000, which is 25 percent higher than the start of the fourth quarter last year. There are currently 28 escrows open.

The lowest-priced residence available is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath home on Las Casas Place, being offered at $1,535,000. We have never seen such a high “entry point” in Pacific Palisades. The highest-priced available property is a 5-bedroom, 7.5-bath new architectural 14,000-sq.-ft.house on Chautauqua Boulevard listed at $19,800,000.

The most affordable area so far in 2013 has been the Sunset Mesa/Pacific View Estates area with a median price of $1,680,000. The Huntington, Riviera and Rustic Canyon areas had the highest median average sale prices.

The Riviera and upper Marquez/Bienveneda areas currently have the largest number of homes for sale of all Palisades areas. Historically, the Highlands has more homes listed than any other area of the Palisades; however, there is currently a shortage of inventory there.

The lowest sale price through September was on Sunset Boulevard ($785,000) and the highest sale (in the MLS) was on San Remo Drive ($17,500,000).

There are 13 condominiums/townhouses on the market–41 percent fewer available than a year ago. They range from a 1-bedroom, 1-bath in the Edgewater Towers on Sunset (offered at $369,000) to a 3-bedroom, 4-bath on Sunset for a unit in the new Rockwell building near PCH, being offered at $3,850,000. Sixty-one condominiums have been sold here since the start of the year, ranging from a 1-bedroom, 1-bath in the Edgewater Towers on Sunset (sold for $331,000) to a 3-bedroom, 3-bath unit in the Rockwell building, which sold at its $2,695,000 asking price. The median sales price for condos at the end of the third quarter was $857,000, up 36 percent over 2012 third quarter sales prices.

There are currently 17 pieces of raw land available, ranging from $94,900 for a 4,000-ft. sloped lot on Revello to $14,900,000 for ocean-view property on Corona del Mar. There are no lots currently in escrow, and seven pieces of land have sold so far this year.

There are currently 36 leases in the Palisades, starting at $2,400 for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath on Sunset, and asking as high as $55,000 per month for an 7-bedroom, 7-bath house on Paseo Miramar. The 186 leases done so far this year range from a 1-bedroom, 1-bath on PCH ($1,400/month) to a 6-bedroom, 8-bath home on Via la Costa, which had a short-term lease for $62,500/month.

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