Manhattan Beach Real Estate

A South Bay beach city built over old sand dunes

Manhattan Beach (ZIP code 90266) is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, incorporated in 1912 and covering about 3.9 square miles on the Pacific coast of the South Bay, south of El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, and north of Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach.

Los Angeles County, California · ZIP code 90266

Market Snapshot

Market data as of September 21, 2026 · updated daily from the MLS

Homes in Manhattan Beach sold for a median $4,075,000 ($1,587 per square foot) over the 30 days ending September 21, 2026, closing at 100.2% of final list price on average, per CRMLS.

Median Active Price: $5,325,000
Active Listings: 62; low inventory
Days on Market (active): 38.5
Recent Sales: 26; Past 30 days
Median Sold Price (30d): $4,075,000; $1,587/sq ft
Sale-to-List: 100.2%; of final list price, avg
Days on Market (sold)

Neighborhoods in Manhattan Beach

Sand Section

The blocks beside the ocean, known for quiet walk streets that lead toward the beach. Homes on the oceanfront row face The Strand, where the bike path and pedestrian lane pass directly in front of them.

Hill Section

A hillside area whose steep streets open up wide ocean and city views, and where many of the houses have been remodeled or newly built.

Tree Section

A largely residential area bounded by Rosecrans Avenue to the north, Manhattan Beach Boulevard to the south, Sepulveda Boulevard to the east and the Sand Section to the west. Its name comes from street names such as Palm, Oak, Elm and Pine, and much of it was first built after World War II on lots commonly about 40 feet wide.

Gas Lamp Section

A small area near Marine Avenue, also called the Gaslight District, whose streets are lined with gas-burning lamps. Lots here are often narrower than in the surrounding Tree Section, some only 25 to 30 feet wide.

El Porto

The city's north end at the edge of El Segundo, where one of the beach's best-known surf breaks sits and a small business district runs from roughly 32nd to 45th Street near Rosecrans Avenue and Highland Avenue.

Downtown

The walkable center along Manhattan Beach Boulevard and the streets leading to the pier and Valley Drive, with restaurants, boutiques and the redeveloped Metlox site, a former pottery factory now holding a hotel, shops and underground parking.

East Manhattan Beach

The inland side of the city, taking in Manhattan Village, Manhattan Heights and Liberty Village. It sits closest to the Manhattan Village shopping center on Sepulveda Boulevard, Polliwog Park, and the Aviation Boulevard employment corridor.

Living in Manhattan Beach

The Strand runs the length of the beach, pairing a concrete bike path that continues north to Santa Monica and south to Torrance with a separate pedestrian walkway through the city.

The 928-foot Manhattan Beach Pier at the foot of Manhattan Beach Boulevard ends in an octagonal building that houses the Roundhouse Aquarium, and its deck carries the Volleyball Walk of Fame.

Beach volleyball, body boarding and surfing along the sand, with the pier and El Porto the city's best-known surf spots.

Sand Dune Park preserves the only exposed sand dune left in a city that was mostly dunes before it was built.

Veterans Parkway, a wood-chip path of nearly 20 acres beside Valley Drive and Ardmore Avenue, runs about three miles and continues into Hermosa Beach.

Polliwog Park, two blocks west of Aviation Boulevard, holds the Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden, a small lake, an open-air amphitheater and the Historical Society's Red Cottage.

Beach Cities Transit buses serve the city, and the Douglas and Redondo Beach stations on Metro's K Line sit just outside its limits.

Schools Serving Manhattan Beach

Grand View Elementary School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (elementary)

Meadows Elementary School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (elementary)

Pacific Elementary School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (elementary)

Pennekamp Elementary School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (elementary)

Robinson Elementary School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (elementary)

Manhattan Beach Middle School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (middle)

Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach Unified School District (high)

School assignments can change. Verify enrollment boundaries directly with the district.

Local Market Insights: Manhattan Beach

Bruce's Beach: how the land left and returned to one family

Willa Bruce bought two lots along The Strand in 1912 and 1920, and she and her husband Charles turned the site into a seaside resort that welcomed Black beachgoers from across the region. In 1924 the Manhattan Beach City Council voted to condemn the resort and the surrounding land through eminent domain, citing a planned park; Los Angeles County's own history of the site describes the real motive as racial. The resort was demolished in 1927, a court upheld the taking in 1929, and no park was built on the land behind it until 1956.

The park took the name Bruce's Beach in 2007. Through a series of transfers among the city, the State of California and the county, Los Angeles County came to own the original Bruce parcels in 1995, and the county lifeguard administration building now stands where the resort once did. After state legislation signed in 2021 cleared the way, the Board of Supervisors returned ownership to the couple's closest living legal heirs on July 20, 2022, and in January 2023 the family announced its decision to sell the property back to the county.

Short-term rentals: the coastal zone line decides the answer

Manhattan Beach's zoning code treats stays of fewer than 30 days as a transient use that residential zones do not allow, and in April 2019 the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 19-0007 to tighten that ban, extending it to renters and to advertising and giving the city subpoena power over listing platforms. Inside the city's coastal zone the rule works differently. The California Coastal Commission certified the city's coastal land use plan in 1981 and its implementing zoning in 1994, and in April 2022 the Court of Appeal held in Keen v. City of Manhattan Beach that the city's newer bans amounted to amendments of that certified program, which the Commission never approved.

The city's current guidance follows the ruling: the ban does not apply to properties within the coastal zone and still applies outside it, and any short-term rental must hold a city business license and collect and remit transient occupancy tax. Whether a specific address is inside the coastal zone is answered by the city's zoning map, so confirm it with the Planning Division before buying with rental plans. These rules have changed more than once, so check the current version before relying on it.

Built on dunes, with a beach that more than doubled in width

Most of Manhattan Beach sits on sand dunes that now lie under its streets and houses, and the dunes are the reason homes across the western part of the city have ocean views. When builders leveled those sites in the 1920s and 1930s, developers in Hawaii bought the surplus sand and shipped it to Waikiki over roughly a decade. Sand Dune Park keeps the one dune still exposed.

The beach changed shape too. Early in the twentieth century it was a narrow, sloping strip of about 150 feet. Between 1938 and 1989 it more than doubled, as sand placed on beaches to the north during construction of the Hyperion Treatment Plant, Marina del Rey and the Scattergood Power Plant drifted south on the littoral current, and it now runs about 400 feet wide along roughly 2.1 miles of shoreline.

Where the city's commercial and employment corridors sit

Almost all of Manhattan Beach's larger commercial space lies east of the residential sections, along three corridors. Sepulveda Boulevard, the city's main north-south highway, carries the Manhattan Village shopping center between Marine and Rosecrans avenues along with hotels, medical offices and dealerships. The Rosecrans corridor, between Sepulveda and Aviation boulevards, holds the Manhattan Beach Country Club, a hotel and golf course, supermarkets and office buildings, adjacent to The Point and Plaza El Segundo off Sepulveda Boulevard.

Aviation Boulevard forms the city's eastern edge, and its corridor south of Rosecrans Avenue includes the Manhattan Beach Studios Media Campus and Northrop Grumman's Space Park complex. For a buyer, that layout means most of the traffic and the larger buildings stay on the city's eastern arterials rather than inside the beach-side sections.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many new listings are for sale in Manhattan Beach this week?

8 homes listed in Manhattan Beach since September 14 were still for sale as of September 21, 2026, based on MLS data.

How many Manhattan Beach homes are under contract right now?

As of September 21, 2026, 36 homes in Manhattan Beach were pending or under contract in the MLS, meaning an offer has been accepted but the sale has not yet closed.

Does the Manhattan Beach market favor buyers or sellers?

Manhattan Beach had 2.2 months of inventory as of September 21, 2026, which points to a seller's market. The figure compares homes currently for sale with the pace of closings over the last 90 days; under about three months usually favors sellers and over about six favors buyers.

What have homes in Manhattan Beach sold for recently?

Over the 30 days ending September 21, 2026, closed sales in Manhattan Beach had a median price of $4,075,000, about $1,587 per square foot, and sold on average at 100.2% of their final list price, according to MLS data.

How long do homes in Manhattan Beach take to sell?

Homes that closed in Manhattan Beach during the 30 days ending September 21, 2026 spent a median of 18.5 days on the market, per MLS data.

What are the main neighborhoods in Manhattan Beach?

Locals describe the city by sections. The Sand Section holds the walk streets closest to the ocean and the homes facing The Strand; the Hill Section has steep streets with ocean and city views; the Tree Section, named for streets such as Palm, Oak, Elm and Pine, runs between the Sand Section and Sepulveda Boulevard; the Gas Lamp Section sits near Marine Avenue; El Porto is the north end; and East Manhattan Beach takes in Manhattan Village, Manhattan Heights and Liberty Village.

Can you run a short-term rental in Manhattan Beach?

It depends on where the property is. The city bans rentals of fewer than 30 days in residential zones, but after a 2022 Court of Appeal decision (Keen v. City of Manhattan Beach) the city says that ban does not apply to properties inside its coastal zone. Short-term rentals there still need a city business license and must remit transient occupancy tax. Check the city's zoning map for a specific address and confirm current rules with the Planning Division.

What school district serves Manhattan Beach?

Manhattan Beach Unified School District, formed in 1993, runs the city's public schools: Grand View, Meadows, Pacific, Pennekamp and Robinson elementary schools, Manhattan Beach Middle School, and Mira Costa High School, which opened in 1950. The district publishes a school boundary map for checking which elementary school serves an address.

What is Bruce's Beach in Manhattan Beach?

Bruce's Beach is the site of a 1910s and 1920s oceanfront resort run by Willa and Charles Bruce for Black beachgoers, which the city condemned through eminent domain in 1924. The park on the site was renamed Bruce's Beach in 2007. Los Angeles County, which owned the land, returned it to the Bruces' heirs in July 2022, and in January 2023 the family announced it would sell the property back to the county.

Can you get to Manhattan Beach by train?

Not directly. Metro's K Line has stations at Douglas and at Redondo Beach, both just outside the city limits, and Beach Cities Transit buses run through town. Within the city, The Strand's bike path and Veterans Parkway along Valley Drive give car-free routes through the western part of town.

What is the ZIP code for Manhattan Beach?

Manhattan Beach uses ZIP code 90266. The city also has 90267, but that ZIP code is reserved for post office boxes, so homes for sale in Manhattan Beach carry 90266.

City	Median Price	30-Day Trend	Active Listings	Median DOM	Supply
Palos Verdes Estates	$5,488,000	Not available	25	66 days	1.6 mo · low
Manhattan Beach	$5,325,000	Not available	62	38.5 days	2.2 mo · low
Rancho Palos Verdes	$2,199,000	Not available	123	52 days	3.8 mo · medium
Hermosa Beach	$1,999,999	Not available	33	32 days	2.3 mo · low
Redondo Beach	$1,499,000	Not available	131	47 days	2.4 mo · low
El Segundo	$1,299,000	Not available	25	31 days	1.9 mo · low

Manhattan Beach Real Estate

Market Snapshot

Is Manhattan Beach a buyer’s or seller’s market?

About Manhattan Beach