Laguna Beach’s ultra-high end has been ripe with billionaire activity. Mark Cuban negotiated $7M off the original list price on his $19M Montage home after it was on the market for close to a year. Bill Gross paid almost a million dollars over the listing price for his $35M Irvine Cove tear down. The front row home was only on the market for 55 days. Omaha beef supplier, Henry Davis purchased the front row in Emerald Bay for $21M – a $14M discount after the listing had languished on the market for over two and a half years.
And the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett got schooled in the perils of over pricing. His fourth row Emerald Bay home went without a buyer for over 18 months. Once he slashed his price by over $3M, it quickly sold.
This is Boyd Roberts broker of Gallery Real Estate with my take on Laguna Beach’s $10M+ market.
With an almost 2-year supply of homes, Laguna’s high end is a buyer’s market. As of March 1st, there are 30 $10M+ properties listed for sale, not including off market, pocket listings. Over the last 3 months 4 have sold at the rate of 1 sale every 22 days. This means at any given time, one buyer can pit 30 sellers against each other, create a reverse bidding war, and find the one seller that wants to capitulate the most.
Looking at the last 50 sales 4 facts stand out:
The median price reduction was $3.4M or 20%.
The median days on market was 257 days.
The highest price reductions correlated highly with the longest time on the market: 60% of sales in the highest quintile of price reductions were also in the highest quintile for the longest time on the market.
The lowest price reductions correlated highly with the shortest time on the market: 60% of sales in the lowest quintile of price reductions were also in the lowest quintile of time on market.
Though high correlation is not proof, over pricing makes a home relatively illiquid, wastes time and nets the seller less.
If you are looking to buy Laguna's high end, you should call me. I have done my homework. I am familiar with and have seen many of these homes. I know which properties to target, how to structure the offer, and how to obtain your dream home at the lowest price.
If you are a seller, realistic, and want to sell your home before the market turns, call me. I have a plan to sell your home for the highest price in the shortest period.
If you follow Laguna Beach real estate - at any price - be sure to check out my website, www.LagunaGalleryRealEstate.com. All my reports, videos, and charts are accessible. Have an excellent March, stay dry, and thank you for joining me.