Real estate: Prices rising, but how much?

By Rick Wallace / Special to The Malibu Times

Housing supply in 2013 is low and demand is high by past standards.

How much will real estate prices rise in Malibu during 2013? The question itself is a statement that prices are certainly heading up, barring an extraordinary circumstance, during this year, when supply seems low and demand is high by past standards. For the past two years, prices have not changed much, and a certain status quo highlighted the local market. Realtors and appraisers may once again have to go back to work to make skillful judgments of new values, as things change this year.

For now, here is a rundown on some of the Malibu sales that have occurred this year:

 Two homes have sold in the Big Rock neighborhood for more than $2 million. They are among five sales total already this year at this writing. One of the homes is three bedrooms, three baths and a very modern architectural in style. It has a pool and ocean view and sold for just more than $2.2 million. The second large deal sold at full price: $2,495,000. It is located on the bluff in the lower mesa. It is four bedrooms with a pool.

A home with four levels of living space has sold for the second time in two years in La Costa Hills. The 4,000-square-foot home, rebuilt in 1997 after the 1993 fire, has ocean views and a Mediterranean villa feel, with terraced gardens, a flat grassy yard off the kitchen and patio. The home sold last year for $2,250,000. This year: $2,650,000. A fixer home on Point Dume sold for $2 million, featuring an ocean view and set on more than an acre. The original home was built in 1958 and is located near the Headlands Park. Three other Point Dume deals have gone below $2 million, as the low end of every neighborhood is getting enhanced attention, but one other house on the point sold quickly, and near asking price, for $2.9 million. It was real estate owned (REO) and features a big pool, three-car garage, ocean views and four bedrooms in a sprawling one-story home.

At least six beach and bluff properties have scored at least $10 million in sale price since the start of the year, including a Malibu Colony mansion on 65 feet that brought in $17 million. Located near Surfrider Beach, the home has a New England flair and was virtually completely rebuilt with a famous architect, including five bedrooms and seven baths. The top of the home has a 1,200 square foot entertainment deck with views in all directions, and a lounge and spa.

In the middle of Malibu Road sits a very sleek contemporary house that sold for just more than $10 million, very recently. It sits on a bountiful 81 feet of beach frontage. The entrance is via a courtyard with a pool, columns and an aquarium window. The main house has three bedrooms, gym and wine cellar. There is also a one bedroom guest suite.

Eight homes have reported sold in the MLS for less than $1 million, including an REO two-bedroom house in the El Nido area of Corral Canyon, at $622,000, and a one-bedroom home with commanding views on Latigo Canyon off Kanan Road, trading for $685,000. In the small tract of Malibu Highlands off upper Latigo Canyon, a two-story, four-bedroom house sold for $800,000. The home has vaulted ceilings and nearly 3,000 square feet inside, and grassy yards outside.

In the Sea View Estates up Las Flores Canyon, a 3,600 square foot home closed escrow in January for $975,000. It has a pool but no ocean view and was built in 1985. Three other sales have occurred in the tract, going for $1,350,000, just more than $1 million and this recent sale at $1,635,000: A single story home with unobstructed ocean and city lights view and a full acre of land.

The highest sale off the beach has come on Winding Way. Called the Bridge House and virtually new, it is visible from the coast highway and contains several wide sections connected by indoor corridors with commanding views and about 7,000 square feet of living space. Sale price: $5,550,000. The home has terrific privacy and a large pool, with oak floors, very contemporary in style and windows everywhere.

A home in Malibu West was listed less than $1 million, but sold for just more than $1.1 million. Said to be in “original” condition, the home has 4 bedrooms in a cul-de-sac location. One other house in the neighborhood has sold as of this writing, bringing in $1,225,000.

Malibu Country Estates has seen two sales in the $1.9 million ballpark and another at $2.1 million. The latter deal had an ocean view and pool, two variable amenities that affect values with every house in the Pepperdine-adjacent tract. With about 4,000 square feet, the 1979- built house had over a year on the market, total.

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