Two Year Itch in Manhattan Beach

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Intriguing post over at Manhattan Beach Confidential: the blog is tracking nine listings, all of which were purchased a little over two years ago and have now hit the market again. Why the two-year-itch? ‘Thanks to our tax code, you can reap up to $500k in capital gains (for a couple) on a home sale tax-free. You just have to have made it your primary residence for 2 years.’

Why track these listings? When and if they’re sold, they should yield a pretty good picture of same-house price appreciation, which is a very hard statistic to get at.

What’s interesting is the listing prices, and the implied appreciation over those two years -- three of the listings are marked up by 11% or 12% from two-year-ago prices; but three are marked up 41% to 47%. Who’s right?

Comments, Questions, Insights, Opinions? Always welcome.

Photo Credit: Manhattan Beach by Johan
via Your Scene at LATimes.com