The Highest and Lowest Priced Palos Verdes Properties

The new year is just beginning, and the early trends of 2020 will start to reveal themselves in the next couple of weeks.

This week I wanted to give a broad-brush stroke of the Palos Verdes Hill.

If you read last week’s blog, you know that South Bay median prices are down year-over-year. In case you missed it, you can read the past blog here. Also, a few months ago I wrote a blog post titled, “Palos Verdes Luxury Property: Years to Sell & Huge Discounts,” so for those who read that blog, you would know that many Palos Verdes luxury properties are having a tough time selling.

To reiterate last week’s information, when you split The Palos Verdes Hill in half, this is how the numbers look:

• 90274: No Change
  • 2018 Median Price: $1,619,000
  • 2019 Median Price: $1,619,000
• 90275: Down 4.04%
  • 2018 Median Price: $1,250,000
  • 2019 Median Price: $1,199,500

The recent yearly trend is flat to down on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

For this post, I am going to highlight the lowest priced listing and the highest priced listing in the four Palos Verdes cities. I’ll also share its closest comps so you can understand if the pricing is low, high, or market value.

Rancho Palos Verdes

Highest Priced Listing

• 100 Vanderlip Drive
  • 7 bed, 9 bath, 7,700 sq. ft., 499,197 sq. ft. lot
  • Asking Price: $12,995,000

The Vanderlip Estate, Villa Narcissa as it is called, was built by Frank A. Vanderlip who is known as the “Father of Palos Verdes.” After nearly a century of ownership, Vanderlip’s decedents are selling the estate for the first time ever.

This is likely the most famous residential estate on the entire Hill.

Its closest comp is 2701 Via Elevado, which sold last year for $14.1 million after starting its listing journey at an outrageous $26.68 million. Villa Narcissa’s lot is much bigger than Via Elevado, but the location and massive historical renovation needs will likely be a knock on the property’s price.

Lowest Priced Listing

• 29641 S. Western Avenue #404
  • 2 bed, 2 bath, 1,207 sq. ft.
  • Asking Price: $464,000

This will be one of the most affordable condos in Rancho Palos Verdes that you will see all year long. It is on busy Western Avenue and bordering San Pedro, but to get a Palos Verdes address and an opportunity to attend a Palos Verdes school, this condo is a bargain when the median price of L.A. County homes is far higher.

Although it is affordable, it is still likely overpriced as its most recent comp at 29641 S. Western #316 was two hundred square feet larger and turnkey, but sold for $20,000 less. Once the owners cut the price to match that comparable sale, it should drum up some interest.

Rolling Hills Estates

Highest Priced Listing

• 29 Strawberry Lane
  • 5 bed, 10 bath, 8,004 sq. ft., 48,506 sq. ft. lot
  • Asking Price: $5,950,000

Strawberry Lane is one of the most coveted streets in Rolling Hills Estates and made famous by its cute sign off of P.V. Drive North with thousands of cars driving by daily. The charming sign is hard to miss. This home is one of the largest homes ever built in Rolling Hills Estates, boasting 8,000 square feet of livable space.

It is very difficult to sell a home that is double the size of even some of the largest homes in the area, even moreso when it is asking what would be a record price at $5.95 million.

The closest comp in size was the 7,800 square foot 3463 Tanglewood Lane sale that only went for $2.55 million in 2018. Tanglewood Lane sold at an ultra-low $323 price per square foot due to the fact that it was huge, and needed to be updated. Strawberry Lane doesn’t need the updates as it was built brand new in 2010 according to the listing, but is it worth double Tanglewood?

The only other comps would be the brand new luxury development in the new Rolling Hills Country Club. The four highest sales in the last two years ranged from 4,700 square feet to 5,200 square feet and closed between $4.1 and $5.2 million for new construction.

Lowest Priced Listing

• 901 Deep Valley Drive #106
  • 2 bed, 2 bath, 930 sq. ft.
  • Asking Price: $579,000

This is a 55+ community that offers walkability at the top of the Hill with the Peninsula Promenade and Peninsula Center close by. There are much more affordable options, like condos in The Estates that can sell for as low as the $300,000 range, but this option has a lot of perks.

Sandwiched between a one bedroom and a larger two bedroom sale, this unit is priced smartly. 901 Deep Valley Drive #102 sold for just under $500,000 as a one bedroom unit and 901 Deep Valley Drive #309 was an oversized two bedroom unit that sold for $672,000. We will see where this listing lands but it feels just about right.

Rolling Hills

Highest Priced Listing

• 30 Portuguese Bend Road
  • 6 bed, 6 bath, 6,200 sq. ft., 219,114 sq. ft. lot
  • Asking Price: $19,800,000

Coined as Villa Oneiro or “House of Dreams” from the listing description, this 6,200 square foot home on a sprawling 219,000 square foot lot is asking $19.8 million behind the gates of Rolling Hills. This mid-century modern home offers views, vineyards, and organic farming, to name just a few of the amenities.

The closest comp is 29 E. Crest Road that sold for $15.5 million last year. My jaw nearly hit the floor as it was one of the highest sales ever in Rolling Hills and a price per square foot that was a massive outlier. To give some perspective, E. Crest Road sold for $2,540 a square foot whereas the next closest turnkey sale ever sold for $1,496 per square foot.

Home selling over $5 million in Rolling Hills over the past two years ranged from $439 a square foot to $943 a square foot. Will this listing catch lightning in a bottle like its E. Crest Road predecessor and land a $3,193 price per square foot?

In my opinion, it is highly unlikely…but that will be up to the buyer.

Lowest Priced Listing

• 10 Saddleback Road
  • 4 bed, 4 bath, 3,831 sq. ft., 46,571 sq. ft. lot
  • Asking Price: $2,299,000

Yes, you heard that right…lowest priced listing. That is Rolling Hills for you. Every so often, a home will sell below $2 million, but it is not that common in this city.

That said, there were three sales in 2019 that went below $2 million. Two were undersized and one was in a landslide zone. Asking $600 a square foot, Saddleback Road would be the third lowest price per square foot property compared to the 18 sales that closed in 2019.

That said, there is value here, but it needs a lot of work.

Palos Verdes Estates

Highest Priced Listing

• 909 Via Coronel
  • 7 bed, 15 bath, 13,032 sq. ft., 137,923 sq. ft. lot
  • Asking Price: $27,500,000

Another historically significant home, 909 Via Coronel was once owned by Fred Roessler, the first mayor of Palos Verdes and arguably the second “Father of Palos Verdes” to Vanderlip.

At a whopping 13,032 square feet, this home was remodeled in 2006 in its same Spanish Revival style. Sitting on the biggest lot in Palos Verdes Estates, this home has it all from a tennis court, to mature trees, a large pool, and stunning views. It is the updated version of Via Elevado, but on a larger scale.

That brings me to its comp, which again, is likely the Via Elevado sale at $14.1 million. This home is asking almost double that sale. Is an updated larger home really worth over $13 million more? Remember, Via Elevado started its asking price at over $26 million and had to take a massive discount to sell. This home should exceed the sale, but a huge discount might be in order thanks to the Elevado comp.

Lowest Priced Listing

• 2545 Via Campesina #306
  • 2 bed, 2 bath, 1,511 sq. ft.
  • Asking Price: $689,000

I always think there is so much value in Malaga Cove and Lunada Bay condos. There are some coveted multi-million dollar homes in this neighborhood, and at the same time you can also land an affordable condo at a fraction of the price. Not to mention, you are always walking distance from Malaga Cove Plaza or Yarmouth Road.

This $689,000 listing will not be the lowest priced Palos Verdes Estates condo, but it is comparable to a sale in the same building that went for $685,000 last year. Take a look at that comp here.

The price is not that far off, but it can take time to find the right buyer for these types of condos.

Conclusion

There you have it!

Palos Verdes real estate can offer a wide range of options and this post shows the extremes of each end of the spectrum.

The market is truly efficient so if you are looking to buy or sell, make sure you understand the market and its comps. Even these record-priced listings and extremely affordable homes have sales to justify value.

Understand those sales deeply to make sure you do not overpay and land yourself a fabulous deal.

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