The Malibu Real Estate Blog

Here are the numbers showing what’s happening to land-side homes in Malibu  from Nov. 06 YTD to Nov. 07 YTD. 

• The number of new listings decreased from 444 to 389  or -12.99%  
• The number of  sold units decreased from 177 to 146 or -17.51%
• The median sales price increased from $1,865,000 to $2,197,500 or an increase of +17.83%!

Here are the numbers  for real estate on the beach.

• The number of new listings increased from 106 to 117  or +10.39%   
• The number of sold units increased from 36 to 44 or +22.22%
• The median sales price increased from $4,247,521 to $6,407,531 or an increase of +50.85%!
  

Click here to see the chart.  http://forms.themls.com/forms/la_times_news/12_16_07_LA_Times_Article.pdf 

Check out these recent headlines:

• “Location! Location! Location! - Better Schools Mean Higher Property Values” (USA Today),
• “House Buyers are Willing to Pay for a Good Education,”(The Wall Street Journal)

If the quality of a school directly affects the value of local real estate, then Malibu High School has just given the local housing market a big boost. Coming in 98 out of the 100 highest ranking schools in the nation and 23rd in California, parents now have even more reason to move to Malibu. Don’t forget, we are talking about a public school with no tuition! Many parents in the surrounding communities often send their children to private schools that can run anywhere from $10,000-$20,000 per year. That’s a lot of money that can be applied toward a mortgage for those wanting to move to Malibu. What are you waiting for? 

If the answer is less than 20, you may want to consider someone who takes the marketing of your home more seriously. One agent recently studied 268 listings in the MLS and found that homes with more photos sold much faster than those with just a few. Here is the relationship between the number of photos and Days on Market:

• 1 Photo = 70 Days on Market (DOM)
• 6 Photos = 40 DOM
• 16-19 = 36 DOM
• 20 or more = 32 DOM                  

Let’s now talk about the how it affects the sales price. Guess what? Listings with fewer pictures sold for less. 

• 1 Photo = 91.2% of the original price
• 6 Photos or more = 95% of the original price

Here’s what Realtor.com has to say about the importance of photos: 84% of home buyers said that photos and detailed property descriptions are the most important features when searching for homes online. Homes with 6 photos or more are viewed in detail 299% more often. So here’s how to use this to your advantage. If you are selling make sure you agent uses at least 12 or more high quality photos in the MLS. If you are buying and looking for “deals” don’t overlook listings that just have a few photos. Chances are you’ll nab it at a discount price. Why? Because if the listing agent didn’t care much about a simple thing like having multiple good photos, they’ll probably not care much about fighting for a higher price for their client.  Here is one example where I personally shot the photos (23) and built the website for my own listing. www.43000pch.com   

Courteney Cox-Arquette and husband David Arquette turned quite a profit in the sale of their modern Malibu home. The couple bought the house in 2001 for $10.1 million and sold it in early August to Los Angeles Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt for $33.5 million. The mansion sits directly on the Pacific Ocean and has four bedrooms over its 4,486 square feet of space. That’s a $23.4 million dollar increase in 6 years!