Manhattan Beach real estate has charged ahead at a bullish pace for the first half of 2017, with both total sales and median home price on the uptick, according to local real estate blog Manhattan Beach Confidential.

The first half of the year yielded 223 sales, which represents a 21% increase over 2016's first 6 months, and 27% over 2015.

Additionally, there were more closed sales (429) for the full 1-year period ending June 30 than in any comparable period over the last 3 years. This total marks a notable reversal in what had appeared to be a modest downward trend in sales, with only in the span from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 reflecting a higher number of sales.

"The year-over-year rise in sales was 17%, with the '16-'17 span of July 1-June 30 eclipsing the '15-'16 period by 62 sales," added Dave Fratello, Realtor and author of the Manhattan Beach Confidential blog.

Meantime, the median price for all Manhattan Beach residential properties was up a modest 5% to $2.200M, reflecting a simple rise of exactly $100,000 from the '15-'16 period to '16-'17.

"It's the culmination of a 49% rise in the Manhattan Beach median price from the '12-'13 period. You almost can't believe that the median was $1.472M only 5 years ago," said Fratello.

Readers are cautioned to remember that the median represents the middle number out of a complete set of all the sold prices in the 1-year period under study. Half the homes in this most recent period sold for more than $2,200,000, and half sold for less.

For minute-to-minute updates on the Manhattan Beach real estate market, visit Manhattan Beach Confidential and bookmark the Manhattan Beach Confidential real estate dashboard.