Using Beach City’s Real Estate Trends To Stop Guessing And Start Winning In This Market

The Concepts Presented Here WILL Work In Any Market – It’s Up To You To Take Advantage Of Them

At the end of this article is a map of the areas I serve my clients.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling in Beach City (or any of the surrounding ZIP codes or Micro-Neighborhoods – see map below), the single most important concept you need to understand isn’t a “hot tip,” a secret list, or even what your neighbor’s home sold for.

It’s supply and demand.

Supply and demand quietly control what your home will actually sell for, how long it will take, and how much leverage you have at the negotiating table. Once you can see that clearly in the data, you stop guessing and start making smart, confident decisions.

Let me show you how.

The Chart Almost No One Is Using (But Everyone Should)

In commodities like gold, silver, cattle, or wheat, professionals live and die by supply and demand data. Real estate is no different.

In our Beach City market, the clearest way to see supply and demand at work is by tracking months of unsold inventory:

• High demand + low supply → Low months of inventory → Seller’s market

• Low demand + high supply → High months of inventory → Buyer’s market

Here’s the simple rule of thumb:

• 0–3 months of unsold inventory: Seller’s market

• 3–5 months: Neutral market

• 5+ months: Buyer’s market

This one chart – showing how quickly the market is absorbing inventory through closed sales – is one of the most valuable tools you can have, whether you’re buying or selling. It doesn’t just tell you “what things sold for.” It tells you how strong or weak the market really was at that time.

A Real Example: Manhattan Beach (90266)

Let’s look at 90266 in May 2020. At that point, we had 6.4 months of unsold inventory.

That’s firmly a buyer’s market. The market was weak at absorbing inventory. Sellers had less leverage. Buyers had more room to negotiate.

Contrast that with the periods where we saw extremely low inventory – sometimes under half a month of unsold inventory. That’s an extreme seller’s market, where well-priced homes can attract multiple offers quickly.

Most pricing conversations ignore this. They’ll say:

“This home sold for X, this one sold for Y, so yours should be worth about Z.”

But they almost never ask the critical question:

“What was the supply–demand environment when those sales actually happened?”

An Example: 90278-A Market Getting Slowly Weaker – And Why That Matters

Now look at 90278. We’ve seen higher lows and higher highs in months of inventory, meaning:

• The low points in inventory today are higher than the low points in prior years.

• The high points are higher too.

In plain English:
The market is still technically a seller’s market (around 2.2 months of inventory), but it is not absorbing inventory as rapidly as it did before.

From under half a month of inventory (an incredibly tight market) to 2.2 months – that’s roughly a 30% weaker environment for sellers when you compare some past periods with more recent ones.

This subtle shift is exactly what most agents are missing when they price your home or write your offer.

How Sellers Leave Money On The Table (Without Realizing It)

Imagine you’re listing your home today in 90278.

Most brokers will pull “comps” – recent comparable sales – and base your price on those numbers. But here’s the problem:

• Let’s say they use a sale that went into escrow back in July, when the market had 3.3 months of unsold inventory, versus 2.2 months today.

• That July environment was about 30% weaker in terms of demand vs. supply.

If your agent uses those July sales as if today’s market is exactly the same, they will likely underprice your home. The market is stronger now than it was then – buyers may be willing to pay more today.

Result?

• You attract strong interest fast.

• The home sells.

• But you may have left real money on the table simply because the pricing didn’t reflect current supply–demand conditions.

On the flip side, here’s the opposite mistake.

How Sellers Accidentally Overprice – And Suffer For It

Now imagine you were selling in August 2024, when the market was less adept at absorbing inventory than it had been in prior, hotter periods.

If your agent chooses comps from a time when:

• Inventory was lower

• Demand was higher

• Homes were being snapped up faster

…they will likely overprice your home for the market you’re actually in.

What happens then?

• Your home sits on the market longer than it should.

• Showings slow down or never really materialize.

• You start dropping the price.

• You feel stressed, frustrated, and start wondering what’s wrong.

Often, nothing is “wrong” with the home. It was just priced as if it were still in last year’s stronger market, not today’s.

Buyers: How To Use This Data To Negotiate Better

Now let’s change hats. You’re the buyer.

The same data that can protect a seller from underpricing can help you negotiate intelligently – especially when the seller or their agent is clinging to yesterday’s hot-market prices.

Here’s how:

• The seller wants, for example, $2,350,000 because “similar homes” closed in the $2.1M–$2.5M range.

• But those sales happened during a much more brisk market, when inventory was lower and demand was higher.

• You (and your broker) walk in with actual supply–demand data, showing that:

  • When those comps sold, months of inventory were much lower.

  • Today, the market is weaker at absorbing inventory.

Now you’re not just saying, “We think your price is too high.” You’re showing why the same home would not sell for the same number in today’s slower market.

This is how you turn knowledge and data into negotiating power.

The Critical Difference: Static Snapshot vs. Live, Updating Data

Everything I’ve described so far is based on charts as of December 5, 2025. That’s useful, but markets are never static:

• Supply changes.

• Demand changes.

• Interest rates change.

• Buyer and seller behavior changes.

Using a static chart is like navigating with last week’s weather report. Better than nothing, but not how you make the best possible decisions.

That’s why I maintain a live, automatically updating version of these charts:

• You save a single link.

• Every time you open it, you see the latest data for your area.

• You can quickly see:

  • Are we in a buyer’s, seller’s, or neutral market today?

  • Is the trend getting stronger or weaker?

  • Are we approaching a point where meaningful price appreciation is more likely?

This is the kind of context that should be guiding how you price, when you list, what you offer, and how aggressively you negotiate.

Why This Matters More Than Ever – And Why So Few Agents Use It

In over 45 years in real estate, I can say this with confidence:

I have never seen another broker systematically use this kind of supply–demand data to guide clients’ pricing and negotiations.

Most agents:

• Look backward at prices only.

• Do not adjust for how strong or weak the market was when those sales happened.

• Rely on “rules of thumb” instead of current, local, data-driven insight.

That’s a recipe for either:

• Underpricing and leaving money behind as a seller, or

• Overpaying or missing opportunities as a buyer.

My approach is different:

• We look at what sold for how much.

• We overlay how strong or weak the market was at that time.

• We then anchor your strategy—price, timing, negotiations—to today’s conditions, not last year’s.

If You’re Planning To Sell: Here’s What We’ll Do Together

If you’re considering selling in Beach City, 90266, 90278, or nearby:

1. Review today’s live supply–demand chart for your submarket.

2. Identify recent comps, then adjust them based on:

   • The market strength when they went into escrow.

   • The market strength today.

3. Price strategically:

   • Not too low (so you’re not leaving money on the table).

   • Not too high (so you don’t sit and stale out).

4. Monitor the trend line while we’re on the market:

   • If the market weakens or strengthens, we adapt.

   • You’re never flying blind.

This is how you protect your equity and maximize your net proceeds in a changing market.

If You’re Planning To Buy: Here’s How We’ll Use This

If you’re buying:

1. Start with the live supply–demand chart for your target area and price range.

2. Understand your leverage:

   • In a stronger seller’s market, we structure offers to win without recklessness.

   • In a softer or weakening market, we negotiate harder and use data to justify price.

3. Compare your target home’s pricing to the environment of the comps:

   • If the seller is pricing off “old hot market” sales, we push back with facts.

   • If current conditions justify their price, you can write your best offer confidently.

The goal: help you secure the right home at the right price, with your decisions grounded in real market dynamics, not wishful thinking.

The Missing Piece: Your Access To The Live Charts

Everything I’ve walked through here comes from the same source:Live, updating local supply–demand data for Beach City and its surrounding ZIP codes.

If you’ve read this far, you’re already ahead of most buyers and sellers. The next logical step is to put this information to work for you.

Here’s what to do now

• If you’re reading this via email or text:
  You already have my contact information. Simply reply to that message and say:
  “Send me your live Beach City market link.”
  I’ll reply with the link and we can discuss what it means for your specific plans.

• If you’re reading this on my website/blog:
  Do one of the following:

  1. Click on the “Contact Us” link at the top of the page and mention you want access to the live Beach City supply–demand charts, or

  2. Use my Calendly link on the site to schedule a brief call. In that call, we’ll:

     • Pull up the live chart for your ZIP code.

     • Walk through what it’s saying about your timing and strategy.

     • Outline your next best steps, whether you’re buying, selling, or just planning ahead.

  3. Prefer the phone? Just call the number listed on this page, and tell me you’d like to review the live market data for your area.

Ready To Make The Market Work For You?

The Beach City real estate market isn’t random. It’s governed by supply and demand.

Most people never see that clearly because they’re not looking at the right data in the right way. You don’t have to be one of them.

If you’re serious about buying or selling in this market, and you want your decisions grounded in real, current, local data, not guesswork:

Reach out today—by email, text, phone, or through the contact form or Calendly link on this site—and ask me to share the live Beach City supply–demand charts with you.

From there, we’ll build a custom plan around your goals, your timing, and today’s real market conditions—so you can move forward with clarity and confidence.