Higher price levels set throughout Malibu Condos are going for 10 times the prices from 30 years ago and home sales are reaching new highs.
By Rick Wallace/Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu Canyon Village condos along Civic Center Way may be the most visible condo complex in town. It is also one of the least expensive. Peering out over Malibu and the Santa Monica Bay since 1972, the Civic Center condos, as they are known, have always facilitated the low-end homebuyer.
Recently, a unit sold for $325,000. Several others have had offers above the $300,000 threshold, for the first time ever. The prices are a prime example of a new value standard in every residential and condo neighborhood in Malibu.
It’s not the nineties anymore. To buy in the Malibu Canyon Village, or anywhere else along the coast, the upper bar has been raised.
It took 30 years for the MCV condos to go from their original value of about $30,000 to 10 times higher. Along with Malibu’s other lowest-priced complex, the Malibu Gardens, the minimum level to purchase now stands at about $250,000.
Realtors and informed locals have a sense of the top price range for every residential area in town. The first four months of 2002 has seen those ranges increase. Prices once thought unattainable are now common fare.
The Malibu Country Estates, for example, next to Pepperdine, scarcely topped $1 million until the robust market of 1989. Now, few homes sell for less.
The Malibu Villas near Paradise Cove recently breached the $400,000 constraint. Suddenly, just as many listings are for greater that number than less.
In Malibu West, asking prices and sales more than $800,000 are no longer out of the question.
Described below, many areas of Malibu have entered new pricing territory, in general. Every property has its own distinctive value, of course. Furthermore, values also fluctuate wildly in some neighborhoods, with Point Dume, Malibu Park and Big Rock as prime examples. Nevertheless, the values described represent the new realities of values throughout Malibu:
Tivoli Cove Condos-The standard small one-bedroom is now pushing the $400,000 mark.
Zuma Bay Villas-Almost everything is more than $500,000. Front units are rimming the $800,000 level.
Deville Townhouses, near Webster Elementary School-Virtually nothing goes for less than $350,000 anymore.
La Costa Hills-Most of the newer homes rebuilt from the ’93 fire are near $2 million in asking price and homes less than $1 million are rare.
La Costa Beach-$3 million homes are not out of the question and it will be difficult to find a home under $2 million any longer.
The Malibu Colony-You need a minimum of about $4 million to get a fixer on the beach, and some homes are now worth closer to $10 million than $5 million.
Serra Retreat-Most of the actions seems to be above $2.5 million any more. Under $1.5 million is possible, but doesn’t buy what it used to.
Malibu Knolls-$1 million is rock bottom now but many homes are more likely to be closer to $2 million, or more.
Malibu Road Beach-Homes for $3 million to $5 million are frequently listed now, if not sold.
Carbon Beach-It will take a good $2.5 million or more to get a fixer and who knows what the huge new homes might sell for? Certainly above $10 million, at which level there have already been such sales on that beach.
Corral and Latigo Canyons-Most of the action is in the $700,000 range, as an average. The days of homes below $500,000 in the canyons or anywhere in Malibu might be completely past.
The Pointe Townhouses-A whopping $700,000 is standard expense within Malibu’s newest fully constructed complex.
Sea View Estates up Las Flores Canyon-Values in general, for the larger, oceanview homes, are nearing $800,000.
Bluff Estates throughout Malibu-A minimum of $5 million seems necessary to get on a bluff above Malibu Road, in Paradise Cove, along Point Dume or along Encinal Bluffs.
Winding Way, Cavalleri, Sea Vista and Kanan areas-Virtually all the newer homes are seeking well above $2 million and possibly much more. Asking prices above $5 million are not unheard of for ocean view, nicely landscaped, large homes on spacious estates with many amenities.
La Chusa Highlands at the base of Encinal Canyon-Homes sell often for more than $1 million now, or close.
Malibu Cove Colony-Malibu’s greatest turnover in recent years has been on this street, where sub-$2 million days are dwindling and the big houses might get more than $4 million.
Rick Wallace of the Coldwell Banker Company has been a Realtor in Malibu for 14 years. He can be reached at RICKMALIBUrealestate.com.