Price Cuts (33%) Spread to Temple Hills Drive

Mr. Blue has been watching 1645 Temple Hills Drive for quite a while.
This house was pretty nice and had a great view.

But it didn't sell until after it was marked down a huge $1,000,000.
The original asking price was almost $3,000,000 and it sold in June for slighly less than $2,000,000. Boy, Surterre Properties sure did misprice this home!

And finally, why would ANYONE pay the asking price for an obviously distressed property? The buyer bid the asking price in June 2008.
Does this sound like malpractice by the buyer's agent? Thoughts?

ESCROW!!!!

Joy joy joy. My house north of LA is in escrow and hopefully will close soon! only 10 more days until all contingencies are lifted and I'm outta there!!!!

Laguna Home Sales Continue Slide

Dataquick's latest numbers are out for July. The number of properties sold in Laguna Beach is down 8% as compared to last July. Last July was not a good selling month and the market has slid even lower than that. This is a down indicator during what otherwise should be the peak of the typical selling season. The volume decrease is an irresistable market force that will drive prices lower. And prices have gone down for family homes - stay tuned for a post on this. All of t his does not bode well for the second half of 2008. Lookout below!

2616 Victoria Drive Update

There have been a lot of comments on this house on the blog.
It still appears to be listed at $3.7M. Someone claimed it was under contract but the listing still shows active so I think someone thought better of buying this small little Euro Box.

It doesn't compare well to the competition. For example, 170 Dumond is virtually brand new and is BIGGER and is in the same neighborhood, yet can't appear to fetch the much lower asking price of $2.89M.

Also 2626 Victoria Drive, brand new and BIGGER and has more parking and hasn't sold in over TWO years and has a listing price of $3.25M.

Even closer to the beach is 2670 Victoria at $1.8M. It is about the same size but older.

There you have it, three good reasons why the asking price for 2616 is a way way out of line. I wonder what the sales pitch is at the open houses for this property? How about "you really should buy this just because we have priced it so high - it is very exclusive, you know!"

1283 Starlit Drive - Another 11% reduction in price

This blog long ago identified the overvalued remodel at 1283 Starlit Drive - deep in Bluebird canyon. Well, the seller just reduced the price by $100,000 to $800,000. Considering it was bought in 2007 for $1,100,000, the asking price now represents about a 30% decrease. This is merely a comparison of the asking price and the last sale price. If (and when) the property sells for less, the real reduction will be even more. And this doesn't include the flipper's remodeling expenses.

Family homes in Laguna have slid downward big time. 1283 Starlit is Exhibit A.

Update: This home sold in April of 2009 for $835,000.

Back N Blue

Hello all. I must apologize for not blogging in a while. You see, I've been looking at the inside of many aircraft cabins, all of which were zipping across the globe. I've been above the Artic circle. Many times. I had the pleasure of being in O'Hare airport while an evacuation was attempted due to a tornado warning. Yes, the food is no good, the wine is lousy on the airlines and it certainly is great to be back in the OC. A quick look at the Laguna Beach listings reveals mostly the same old tired listings. Looks like a few fools have bought, but most people are wisely watching the market slide downward. Let the blogging begin anew!