June 10, 2008
Price Slashed on Glen Towers Condo in Westwood
This Westwood listing — 1333 S. Beverly Glen Blvd., #801 – just fell out of escrow and is back on the market with a dramatic price reduction. 
This 2,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, three-bath unit arrived on the market Feb. 29 at $1,049,000. In April, it went down to $949,000. At some point an offer was made and it went into escrow, but over the weekend it came back on the market, with a brand-new price: $799,000.
Sure, it was probably overvalued to begin with, but a quarter-million price reduction — nearly 25 percent — does make one take notice.
Condo sales have been soft in Westwood: There are nearly 10 times as many condos for sale as have been sold in the last three months. That means anyone who has to sell must be aggressive on price. We’ll have to see whether this latest reduction does the trick.
Meanwhile, here are a few recent Westwood condo sales:
1414 S. Beverly Glen Blvd., #403
Sold for $850,000 on 2/12/08
2BR/3B/1,714 square feet
1277 S. Beverly Glen Blvd., #108
Sold for $417,000 on 5/14/08
2BR/3B/1,624 square feet
10490 Wilshire Blvd., Apt. 1002
Sold for $801,724 on 5/21/08
2BR/3B/1,682 square feet
Notes: The oddball price says this one is bank-owned.
Scott McIntosh said:
Looks like the agent for the unit at 1333 Beverly Glen is maybe the son of the owners (He has same last name). However he is not disclosing on the MLS data sheet that he is related to the owners, which he is supposed to if he is in fact related. Additionally, the agent doesn’t look to be affiliated with any major company (no company name listed) and has no email listed as well.
The two facts I just pointed out, related to owner and non affiliation to big broker indicate to me that he is out of touch with the market and started waaaaay to aggressive at $1,049,000. The last unit to sell in the building, on the 7th floor, took 204 days to sell and sold for $850,000 in September of 2007 ($50,000 off the original list price but $55,000 over the asking price of $795,000). The unit was the same size & bedroom count and from the pictures looked to be in better condition.
So it looks like this unit never should have been higher than the previous sale from the beginning. While the drop looks huge, 25%, that kind of price drop is not common in the area. I highly agree though that Westwood condos are not doing that great. Only the nice units that are fairly priced to start with, are selling. Sellers are no longer getting away with selling junk for high prices, thankfully.
June 10, 2008 8:53 AM
Cindy Allen said:
Scott, great post as always. Thanks for the insight. If you want to show us some specific listings that have sold and offer your opinion as to why each sold, I’m sure that would prove instructive to both buyers and sellers. Are Fannie and Freddie’s stricter condo requirements having an effect on sales?
June 10, 2008 9:55 AM