More luxury home buyers from across Los Angeles are discovering Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, a shift that could have a lasting impact on the Beach Cities real estate market.
After more than 35 years selling Manhattan Beach real estate, Hermosa Beach real estate and Redondo Beach real estate, I have watched the South Bay buyer pool change many times. One of the most interesting changes I'm seeing today is where our buyers are coming from. Increasingly, they are coming from other parts of Los Angeles.
In Manhattan Beach in particular, many aren't simply buyers comparing one South Bay community to another. They are high-end buyers who could afford to live in virtually any luxury neighborhood in Los Angeles. And they're choosing Manhattan Beach.
Manhattan Beach Luxury Real Estate Is Reaching New Heights
The strength at the upper end of the Manhattan Beach housing market has become increasingly significant. Manhattan Beach recorded 325 home sales in 2025, the highest number since 2021. Even more interesting was the activity at the top of the market: 62 homes sold for more than $5 million in 2025, up from 52 the year before. The median Manhattan Beach home price also reached a record $3.325 million in 2025. That strength has continued into 2026. Through mid-July, MLS data showed 60 sales above $5 million in Manhattan Beach alone, with another 13 in Hermosa Beach. Those are substantial numbers for communities with an inherently limited supply of homes. But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Manhattan Beach Is Competing With LA’s Top Luxury Neighborhoods
Traditionally, we tended to think about Los Angeles real estate geographically. A Manhattan Beach buyer might compare the Tree Section with the Hill Section or Sand Section. Someone living on the Westside might move between Santa Monica, Brentwood or Pacific Palisades. Those lines aren't nearly as clear anymore. At the higher end of the market, I'm seeing buyers make a much broader decision:
Where in Los Angeles do we really want to live?
Once the question changes from "Where can I get the most house?" to "Where do I want to live?", Manhattan Beach becomes a compelling alternative. A buyer considering a $7 million or $10 million luxury home in Manhattan Beach may also be looking at homes in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica or other high-end Los Angeles neighborhoods. What Manhattan Beach offers is distinctly different.
Why Are Luxury Buyers Moving to Manhattan Beach?
For many buyers, the attraction isn't simply square footage or the house itself. It's the lifestyle. Almost daily, I hear from buyers moving to the Beach Cities from other parts of Los Angeles that safety and a strong sense of community are among their biggest draws. Families want to walk their children to local schools, know their neighbors and live around other families who value that same sense of community. They’re looking for a place where their kids can ride their bikes, walk to a friend’s house, head to the beach and experience an everyday lifestyle that feels more connected.
For many buyers, that has become just as important as the home itself. In Manhattan Beach, you can wake up and walk to the beach, ride your bike along The Strand, walk downtown for dinner and have your children attend highly regarded local schools. You can live minutes from LAX while still experiencing the atmosphere of a smaller beach community. For someone accustomed to driving throughout Los Angeles for virtually everything, that can represent a significant lifestyle change. Once buyers experience it, the appeal becomes easy to understand.
The Los Angeles Fires Introduced More Buyers to the South Bay
The tragic Los Angeles wildfires also accelerated a migration that was already underway. The first quarter of 2025 was extraordinarily active for Manhattan Beach home sales, with 87 closed transactions. Local market observers attributed part of that unusual surge to people displaced by the Los Angeles County fires looking toward Manhattan Beach and the greater South Bay. Some initially came to the Beach Cities looking for rentals. But something interesting happens when people actually live here for a while. They discover the community, schools, restaurants, beach lifestyle and relative convenience to the rest of Los Angeles. For some families, what began as a temporary move can become a permanent consideration.
Could SpaceX Bring Another Wave of Buyers to Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach?
Another factor that could have a meaningful effect on the South Bay real estate market is SpaceX. The company's growth and the wealth created among employees and shareholders have the potential to introduce another group of financially capable buyers to the Beach Cities. The geographic connection makes sense. SpaceX has major operations in nearby Hawthorne, while Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach offer the combination many technology and aerospace professionals are looking for: proximity to work, access to the ocean and an established residential community. Real estate professionals are already seeing interest from SpaceX-related buyers, particularly for larger luxury homes with amenities such as ocean views, pools and four or more bedrooms. We don't yet know how significant the long-term impact will be. But it adds another potential source of demand to an already competitive real estate market.
Manhattan Beach Real Estate Has Something Money Can't Create: Scarcity
This may ultimately be the most important part of the story.You can build more luxury homes in many parts of Los Angeles. What you can't manufacture is more Manhattan Beach. There are only so many Manhattan Beach Walk Street homes. Only so many Strand properties. Only so many ocean-view homes and lots in Manhattan Beach. Only so many properties within walking distance of Downtown Manhattan Beach. And there is a finite amount of land. That becomes increasingly important when the potential buyer pool expands beyond people already living in the South Bay. If Manhattan Beach is competing for affluent buyers from throughout Los Angeles while also attracting wealth generated by South Bay technology, aerospace, entertainment, sports and business, demand can expand while the supply of the most desirable properties remains relatively fixed. That's a powerful combination.
Hermosa Beach Luxury Real Estate Is Benefiting From the Same Trend
Hermosa Beach real estate offers many of the same advantages as Manhattan Beach but with its own personality. It's smaller, intimate and heavily centered around the beach. For someone moving from another part of Los Angeles, the ability to walk from home to the beach, restaurants and Downtown Hermosa Beach can be incredibly appealing. And like Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach has very limited housing inventory. When an exceptional newer home, ocean-view property or Hermosa Beach Walk Street home becomes available, there simply aren't many substitutes. That scarcity could become increasingly important as more buyers throughout Los Angeles discover the Beach Cities.
Redondo Beach Offers Another Entry Into the Beach Cities
Redondo Beach real estate benefits from this migration in a slightly different way. Redondo Beach gives buyers access to the Beach Cities lifestyle across a broader range of price points. South Redondo Beach, in particular, can offer larger homes, highly regarded schools and proximity to the ocean while often providing considerably more house for the money than comparable properties in Manhattan Beach or Hermosa Beach. North Redondo Beach also benefits from its proximity to the South Bay's growing technology and aerospace employment base, including Hawthorne and El Segundo. For many buyers coming from other parts of Los Angeles, Redondo Beach can become their introduction to the Beach Cities.
What Does This Mean for Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach Homeowners?
For homeowners considering selling a home in the Beach Cities, there is an important takeaway:
The best buyer for your home may not currently live anywhere near you. Twenty years ago, marketing a Manhattan Beach property primarily meant reaching buyers and real estate agents within the South Bay. Today, that's not enough. A high-end Manhattan Beach property needs exposure to potential buyers in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and other affluent Los Angeles communities, as well as technology, entertainment, sports, aerospace and business buyers who may not have previously considered living in the South Bay. The more unique the property, the more important that expanded reach becomes.
The Beach Cities Are Becoming Part of the Larger Los Angeles Luxury Real Estate Market
I don't believe Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach should be viewed simply as three small real estate markets south of Los Angeles anymore. Increasingly, the Beach Cities are becoming part of the broader Los Angeles luxury real estate market. Manhattan Beach, in particular, is competing for buyers who have the financial ability to choose from many of Southern California's most desirable communities. After watching this market for more than three decades, I think that's one of the most important trends for Beach Cities homeowners to understand. Our buyer pool is getting bigger. Our supply isn't. Over the long term, that could prove to be one of the most important forces shaping home values in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.
