The year 2019 went out with a bang for real estate in Manhattan Beach: The fourth quarter of 2019 turned out to have the most closed sales of any 4th quarter since 2014, according to Manhattan Beach Confidential.

At 102 closed sales, 2019 trounced 2018. It also appeared to reverse a 3-year trend of slower and slower 4th quarters, said Dave Fratello, broker for Edge Real Estate Agency and longtime author of the MB Confidential blog.

The growth was due in part to what Fratello called "Rocktober" - a month that yielded a whopping 47 new purchase contracts signed within 31 days.

However, Fratello noted, that crazy October was not necessarily expected, considering the high inventory levels and modest sales pace in earlier parts of the year.

"For most of 2019, there were more homes for sale at any given time than you could find going back six or seven years at the same period. Often extra inventory softens prices," said Fratello.

"But by the end of 2019, nothing looked soft," he continued. "The market looked to be on fire. It seemed as if buyers stopped waiting all at once and began clearing out the inventory left on the shelves."

Based on the amount of money spent within the 4th quarter, 2019 was the best year-end period ever seen in Manhattan Beach, with $571.7 million in sales.

That blistering 4th-quarter pace, however, didn't rescue 2019 from a decline in overall spending on Manhattan Beach homes. 

With $2.158 billion in real estate sales, Manhattan Beach actually saw a $100 million decline from 2018's total, and a $300 million dropoff from the record-setting 2017 total of $2.458 billion. This left 2019 with the 3rd-highest total in real estate dollar volume for the city.

For more information, visit www.mbconfidential.com.