Tracking 90066: A Mar Vista short-sale lingers

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I like to track Mar Vista prices and trends as a proxy for the sub-$1-million Westside market. My gut is that if and when there is going to be real weakness in the Westside market, it will show up in the $600,000 to $800,000 price range first, in ZIPs such as 90066.

That said, I bring you two Mar Vista anecdotes, saying two very different things about the market. The picture at right says the market is weakening: a short-sale listing at 3258 Rosewood. Tiny house -- 900 square feet on a small (4,800 square feet) lot; sold in 2005 for $725,000, now listed for $599,000; and sitting on the market at that price since mid-August.

Here’s the other side of the coin: A tear-down at 12706 Stanwood, which sold earlier this month for $832,000. That’s the tear-down price. Essentially $832K for the lot. An average-sized lot for the neighborhood, in the 5,000- to 6,000-square-foot range. No view to speak of. To me, that’s not consistent with a weak market.

That said, here are the numbers, from Redfin, for 90066:

Date Oct. 6 Oct. 29

-- Listed for sale 106 163
(home and condos)
-- Foreclosures for sale 4 6
-- Median list price $795,000 $719,000
-- Median sales price* $757,000 $655,000
-- Median sales price/sf n/a $476
- -Median days listed 63.5 72
-- % reduced in price 34.8% 39.7%
-- Median total reduction 6.6% 6.5%

*Based on homes sold or taken off the market in the previous 90 days

-- Peter Viles

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Photo: L.A. Land