South Pasadena is often thought to be somewhat immune to the typical ups and downs of the real estate cycle. However in June it showed that if the rest of the area has caught a cold, South Pasadena has the sniffles. June is typically the time we begin to see the Summer selling season kick into high gear, but this year it failed to show up. It didn’t even make an appearance. There were only 9 recorded home sales for June 2007 compared to 25 last year. Why the dismal June? It can be hard to quantify. For a home to be sold in June, it would have probably gone into escrow late April or by the end of May. A slight up tick in interest rates may have kept the lid on home sales.
Also if you look at the absorption rate with approximately 67 homes for sale or waiting to close escrow, there is currently about a 7.4 month supply of inventory which is high for the area.
I would caution anyone against reading too much into the latest sales numbers. One month does not a year make. There is also some encouraging news. The 2nd quarter data does indicate the median price is still rising, albeit much more slowly. However a small increase in today’s slower market is very positive news.
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