“real world”” marketplace.
How do those numbers compare to past years?
In 2005, a total of 53 homes sold on the beach (still down from 2003-2004). In 2007, it was 45 homes. Two years ago, 28.
That is only half of the story, however. The other half – homes available for sale. In 2005, while beach sales were rampant, there were never more than 38 houses for sale at any one time. In 2007, the maximum inventory was 44 listings. In 2008, it reached 47. Contrast that to this year when 68 beach homes were on the market in mid-July. Effectively, more houses are fighting for fewer buyers. Just like the other real world of homes off the beach, selling in these times has its challenges.
It was nice in 2005 when 23 homes sold for more than $7.5 million. But the other 33 sales really demonstrated strength in the market.
Three years ago, the market was approaching its peak. A staggering 20 beach homes brought eight figure sale prices. Among low inventory, more than two-dozen others easily sold, additionally. This year, getting more than one dozen “standard” beach sales has been a battle.
It’s still the beach. As they say, they’re not making any more of it. If anything, some of it is disappearing. But it is a phenomenally unique place to live in a home. In one direction is a land mass from here to Nova Scotia that is 3,000 miles. The other way lays an ocean stretching 7,000 miles to the Philippines. All that separates the massive continent from the endless ocean is a microscopic, thin film of beach where the water’s edge varies within 100 feet at all times. Within Los Angeles County, one of the wealthiest and most culturally significant environs on earth, only the beaches of Malibu provide the best opportunity to reside on the edge of the world. And then, only about 1,000 such dwellings exist.
Therefore, Malibu beach homes take on a characteristic well beyond real estate: a collectable. They are more utilized as a collectable investment and showplace than as actual residences. There is evidence of this in two forms.
First, at any one time, the vast majority of beach houses are unoccupied. Most are used as vacation homes; they fill a space in the owner’s vast investment portfolio, often one of many homes owned in many different places. They are time shares that retain all 52 weeks. Second, they pass from generation to generation more often than not. Less than 5 percent of existing beach houses transfer to a new family in a typical year. So the asset may be best described as a collectible. A collectible, kept permanently in one special place, that provides recreational, dining and shower facilities.
Rick Wallace has been a local Realtor for 22 years