Business & Tech
Seal Beach Luxury Real Estate: Is anyone still buying?
The luxury market along Seal Beach's 'Gold Coast' may have slowed, but people are still willing to pay a premium for the limited supply of beachfront lots.
I would be stating the obvious to tell you Seal Beach has one of the most unusual real estate markets in Orange County. Not just in terms of the small geographic size, but the range of prices offered within our postage stamp-sized town. A short drive up Seal Beach Boulevard and you can buy a condominium for $250,000. Or you can set your sights on the so-called “Gold Coast” on Ocean Avenue (beachfront addresses ranging from the 100 – 700 block), and prices start at $4 million.
For a city spanning only 13 square miles, the broad real estate offerings are almost unparalleled. In my day-to-day business, I am frequently asked about the health of the market, and are “people still buying those mansions on the beach?” The answer, of course, is yes, but not as much as they used to. In 2010, just two of the four Seal Beach Gold Coast homes that were listed were sold.
Take 612 Ocean Ave., for example. It sold for $4.3 million after just 70 days on the market. For a home with four bedrooms, five bathrooms and 3,374 sq. ft., this still works out to a whopping $1,274 per square foot. It’s tough to speculate on what value means to different people, and this home is no exception.
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Next on the Seal Beach Luxury real estate sold list is the English Tudor style home located at 350 Ocean Ave. Boasting three bedrooms, five bathrooms and 3,200 sq. ft., this rare and unique Seal Beach home sold for $4.5 million after a reasonable 190 days on the market (that’s $1,406 per square foot for those counting). It’s another example of how Seal Beach offers something for everyone.
Of course, these types of properties are not for everyone nor do they sell with the same frequency as the typical $800,000 four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes. But it is always fun to converse about who is buying them in (reportedly) the worst economic downturn since the great depression. Every time I get in a discussion about Seal Beach luxury real estate, I just remind people that they aren’t making anymore beachfront lots.
