A client called me earlier this week and asked something I've been hearing a lot lately: "Ian, with rates where they are and so much uncertainty in the news, is Manhattan Beach still a sellers market?" My answer was yes, and the numbers back it up.
The clearest signal I can point to right now is days on market. The median in Manhattan Beach has moved from 39 days down to 30 days. That is not the direction you see in a market that is softening. When homes are sitting longer, that tells me buyers are pulling back or supply is outpacing demand. When they are moving faster, it tells me the opposite. With 122 active listings and a median asking price of $4.29M, well-priced homes here are not languishing. Sellers who price correctly are finding traction.
I want to be clear: I am not saying every home sells instantly. Manhattan Beach is a premium market with discerning buyers. But the trend in days on market is pointing in the sellers' favor, and that matters when you are deciding whether to list now or wait.
One thing that often surprises my clients is how differently Manhattan Beach performs compared to nearby cities. Over the past year, asking prices in Manhattan Beach have held at 0.0% movement while Hermosa Beach has seen asking prices move 14.2% lower. That 14-point gap tells you something important: this market has its own gravity. Buyers who want Manhattan Beach are not easily redirected to the next city over, which gives sellers here a level of pricing power that is genuinely rare.
At $1,554 per square foot, Manhattan Beach sits at the top of the local area, and that positioning has not eroded. The product here commands a premium, and the demand to own it has not gone away.
If you are a buyer trying to navigate this market, one figure stopped me in my tracks when I first looked at it. The jump from a 2-bedroom to a 3-bedroom home in Manhattan Beach is $1,200,000 in median asking price. A 2-bedroom is listed at a median of $1,799,000. A 3-bedroom comes in at $2,999,000. That single bedroom is a 67% step up, making it the most consequential decision a buyer makes in this market. If you are on the fence about bedroom count, work that math out before you start touring homes, not after.
For sellers with 3-bedroom homes, that gap is worth understanding too. Your home occupies a very specific position on the price ladder, and buyers reaching for that tier have made a deliberate choice to be there.
The one thing no article can tell you is whether your specific home, on your specific street, in its current condition, is positioned to benefit from these trends. Median figures are useful for reading the market temperature, and right now that temperature is warm. But individual outcomes depend on factors that only come out in a conversation: your timeline, your home's condition, the micro-location within Manhattan Beach, and how you price relative to the 122 active listings currently competing for the same buyers.
That is exactly where I come in. If you want to talk through what this market means for your specific situation, reach out and let's have that conversation.
Questions about 90266?
Text Ian