Beverly Center - Miracle Mile: 1st Quarter 2009

Single Family.

During the 1st Quarter of 2009, 24 single family homes sold in the Beverly Center – Miracle Mile area, with a median sale price of $940,000.

Sales volume of single family homes is off considerably compared to the 1st Quarter of the four preceding years: 30 (2008), 68 (2007), 51 (2006) and 64 (2005).

6430 Colgate Avenue

The top sale was 6430 Colgate Avenue, new construction with contemporary design, that has 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 3,528 sq ft of living area. The home sold for $2,365,000 after 16 days on the market.

One third of these sales were either REO (6) or short sales (2), showing how much distressed owners are “making the market”. The lower price echelon is not the sole province of these properties -- case in point -- 6139 Maryland Drive.

6139 Maryland Drive

This 4 bedroom, 3 bath Spanish home sold for $1,349,000 in August of 2005. Three and one-half years later, the house sold for $1,120,000 in a short sale – even after the owners put in a pool. This is a dramatic illustration of how much prices have fallen in the over $1 million category since the boom years.

Income Property.

Six income properties sold in the Beverly Center – Miracle mile during the 1st Quarter of 2009.

512 N Sycamore Avenue

512 N Sycamore Avenue, a 6,866 sq ft ten-unit character Spanish building with no parking, sold for $1,779,000 -- an 11% reduction from its $1,995,000 asking price.

123 N Swall Drive

123 N Swall Drive, a 7,540 sq ft eight-unit Beverly Hills-adjacent Spanish building, sold for $1,530,000 – $35,000 above its asking price – in one day.

The Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM) for these two buildings are 11.0 and 11.5, respectively. In Hollywood and Silver Lake – Echo Park, GRMs trend lower (approximately 10), indicating that buyers are willing to pay more for a given income in the Beverly Center-Miracle Mile neighborhood than they are in neighborhoods further east.