There seems to be a dichotomy of sorts developing in the Pasadena real estate market when it comes to condominiums and townhomes. On one hand we have the first chart below indicating that the average price per square foot has reached its highest level since January ’09 at $377/square foot. On the contrary, the median price has dropped to $390,000, its lowest level since May 2009 when it hit $382,000. Having said that the variations from month to month can sometimes be severe and hard to explain. The April median price was still higher than April ’09, when it was $385,000.
Market Variations
The unique thing to point out when attempting to explain market activity with condo’s and townhomes is the analysis includes new construction. Therefore the information is a little less predictable. Analyzing single family home prices in Pasadena produces data that is more uniform since we do not have new construction here to speak of. In 2009, according to the graphs there were 814 single family homes sold in Pasadena and 486 townhomes and condo’s, making the condo market about 60% of the single family market. This year through April there have been 220 recorded home sales and 160 sales of towns and condos. This year condos are about 73% of the market YTD.
Sales Summary
In April, 12 units sold above $500,000 compared to April ’09 when there were only 6. Also emerging on the condo / townhome market this month was a recorded sale over $2,000,000 at an astounding $764/sq ft. That is expensive airspace. To get an idea of upcoming activity, inventory in the condo / townhome market has been holding steady, while it has also been gradually rising in the single family home arena. However this may be somewhat misleading as it appears much of the new construction is being held at the sales office level and not hitting the MLS. The median price of all of the properties for sale currently stands at $515,000.
There is still some price negotiation going on as Sellers received about 98.3% of their current asking price, however this was after an initial price reduction of approximately 3%.
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- Pasadena Condo & Townhome Price per Square Foot
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- Median Price of Pasadena Condo & Townhome
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- Pasadena Townhomes & Condominiums
About Doug Willis
It would be interesting to see how much of the sales activity was directly related to first time buyers. With the $8,000 tax credit many homeowners jumped at the opportunity to purchase a home. now that this incentive is gone, will the market still support the growth in condo sales?