The same can be said of the Pasadena real estate market. The market overall continues to pick up steam. We continue to see unit volume increases, indicating that buyers are returning to the market which is good news. On the flip side those buyers are opting for many of the foreclosures and bank owned properties in Pasadena.

Unfortunately we can not confuse an increase in unit sales as being beneficial. Currently an inverse relationship exists with the number of houses that are being sold and the median price. Right now as more homes are sold, the median price continues to decline as short sales and foreclosures are eliciting multiple offers.

Market Action

In a slower market homes that are priced in the mid price ranges ($700.0 – $999.0) are usually prone to slower selling times. The reason is many buyers and investors look for opportunities to buy below market value in the the lower price ranges. In the higher end homes above $1MM, home buyers are not as susceptible to the increased demands of loan qualification, therefore homes are more likely to turnover.

The big question to which there is much speculation is “Is Pasadena real estate close to a bottom?”

If the projected sales numbers for November are any indication, the answer is “not yet”. Of the homes currently in escrow the median price appears to be lower than what was recorded for the month of October.

Pasadena Homes Market Report

The enclosed slides break out the numbers for the overall residential market. Included are single family along with condominiums and town homes. The report is best viewed by using the full size icon in the lower right hand corner.

The June median price was $700,000, compared to $790,000 last year, a decline of 11.3%. Compared to Pasadena’s median price last month of $760,000, prices declined 7.9%. June is normally a strong month for housing as evidenced by last years median price of $790,000 for May and June. The fact that we experienced further declines this past month indicate that the housing market is continuing to soften.

The mix of units sold is changing. In June ’07, there were 4 homes that sold below $500,000 ranging in price from $449.0 to $495. This year 10 homes sold below $500,000 with prices from $339.9 to $469.9. The low end of the market has re-emerged with sales of homes in the range of $500.0 to $999.0 slowing. Currently 504 units/properties are either active, pending or in back-up position resulting in approximately a 10 month inventory supply.

Pasadena Condo’s & Townhomes

Condo’s and Townhomes continue to lag and drag. They lag the units sold in comparison to the single family market and they continue to drag down the overall performance of the housing market with their larger declines in value. .Sales results for June indicate a median price of $477,500 which was down almost 17% from last June’s median price of $575,000 and we sold almost 50% fewer units. Compared to last month’s median price of $488,000, the median price declined 2.1%. We also have approximately a 10 month supply here as well with 319 units on the market today.

Median Price vs Average Price

I am often asked why we do not include an “average” price on our market updates. To me, an average price is not a good indicator of what is happening in the market. Here is an example. Currently the most expensive listing in Pasadena is a house for $52 million. If this house were to sell, can you imagine how the numbers would be inflated and thrown all out of proportion due to this one sale based upon an average? Median prices direct us towards the middle. Average prices tend to sku the results, either positively or negatively.

Ckick on the link to see all of the homes sold in Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Altadena for the month of June.

The data used for this report was compiled from the i-Tech MLS on 7/10. The data will only include properties listed in the i-Tech MLS.

There are so many alternatives available to consumers these days, but how do you know you are seeing everything that is available? Here at up2date, my previous post focused upon our new portal that allows consumers to search Pasadena California Real Estate and its easy navigation and superior search capabilities. As we looked for a new vendor, we previewed several websites with excellent graphics, map search and unique tools that provided consumers with many options. However, there was a major problem with these alternative websites.

As I looked at competing vendors, I noticed when I performed a search for homes in Pasadena, there was a major discrepancy in the number of listings that were displayed. Example, searching homes for sale in Pasadena at up2daterealestate, returns 324 single family homes. Looking at two competitors, they return 103 and 75 houses for sale.

This is something that is not widely known. Case in point, other Pasadena (agent) sites I have looked at are using a competing product that does not have a reciprocity agreement with the Pasadena MLS. Plus if an agent is not a member of the Pasadena Board of Realtors, there is also a chance that their website provider only picks up listings that are placed through their local association. The Pasadena MLS (i-Tech) which merged with the MRMLS (to the east and south) does share listing data. However if an agent uses a third party provider, the information is not shared.

If you have a favorite site you have been using, check to see how many homes are listed for sale in a given city. Then check your results again here at up2daterealestate.