Beachfront Carmel knockout asks $7.49 million

Life isn’t all a day at the beach, but house hunters who are living particularly large may get the next closest thing if they stray down to Carmel, where the three bed, three bath, 2,900 square foot-plus house right on the beach at 30650 Aurora Del Mar recently listed for the almost unbelievable sum of more than $7.49 million.

This circa 1984 knockout boasts 12 rooms in all at its cliffside locale, which realtor Paul Riddols bills as an “exceptional coastal modern home” and “the ultimate in Carmel luxury,” language which might stimulate the sweet tooth for buyers who already have a lot of cream.

Off the back there’s a stairwell directly down to a small beach enclosed by rocky shores. As the Otter Cove Carmel Estate site points out, the beach is the reason these ultra-ritzy homes top even the already ordinarily exorbitant Carmel prices, writing, “There is only so much ocean, and only the lucky few can make the dream of a Carmel oceanfront home California come true.”

Way to rub it in. Shortfalls in modesty notwithstanding, they’re not wrong: According to Forbes, Carmel’s 93923 ZIP code was the 123rd most expensive ZIP in the nation in 2017.

While that might not sound terribly impressive at first glance, keep in mind that a) actually it really is, given that there are more than 42,000 ZIP codes nationwide, and b) that ZIP covers the entire town, meaning that the Otter Cove crest and the Aurora Del Mar area out-swank even the already swanky Carmel median. A sweet offer indeed.

• 30650 Aurora Del Mar [Sotheby’s]
• Otter Cove Estate
• America’s Most Expensive ZIPs [Forbes]