Pasadena CA Real Estate – up2date Market Report for February

What if you walked into the department store and found everything on sale, only to find you not in the mood to buy anything. Now apply that to the Pasadena housing market. Many properties for sale have reduced their price at least once, in effect putting themselves on sale. What happens if no one buys? Maybe after awhile it’s marked down again until finally someone buys it or it’s taken off of the market. This is the dilemma many home sellers find them self in.

The federal government has even thrown in an incentive – an $8000 tax credit if you purchase a home this year. An $8000 credit has much more meaning if you are buying in Oklahoma. For this credit to be applied properly it would be indexed based upon the sales price in the area. A note to our State representatives – next time negotiate harder.

As stated in the January report, the Pasadena real estate market was close to yelling U N C L E. Sales results for February finally indicated some stability in the market. The steep declines we have seen the last few months subsided and pricing began to level off with the exception of townhomes and condominiums. I think Buyers are weighing their alternatives and deciding that single family homes offer a much better alternative to the current selections available in other areas of the housing market.

My charts include median pricing as far back as 2004. However with the median price of Pasadena home at $435,000, I would have to go through the archives and see when the last time prices were this low. There has been a moratorium on foreclosures recently, however there is some speculation that we could begin to see an increase in activity now that the Obama housing plan has been unveiled. This puts to rest who will benefit, which I think the market has been waiting for.

Enclosed below is the complete recap with median prices and units sold. In the coming week, we will look at the forecast for the next few months.

Upcoming Pasadena Home Sales, A False Positive?

Pasadena Ca Housing Stats

Pasadena home sales for the month of July are still about 3-4 weeks away from being released on a national level. Expect a reversal in the continuing bad news that has plagued the housing market for the last year. Why the change? Is it from the expected passage of the Positive test
Housing Bill making its way through Congress? Have the number of foreclosed homes finally reached their peak and now are beginning to level off? Have home buyer’s come to recognize that the bottom is soon approaching and pent up demand will drive the market higher? Or have consumers just been inundated to death by articles and advertising campaigns stating that “now is a great time to buy a house” and it is finally beginning to pay off?

The answer is ….probably not

It would be great news and also provide a much needed boost to the housing sector if we could pinpoint the expected July turnaround to the proactive position taken by consumers and to a lesser extent, government intervention. But the underlying reason of the better news can only be attributed to one thing, and that is…. time.

It was July 2007, when we noticed a substantial drop in home sales activity. Although projected home sales for the month of July 2008 will be predictably in line with what we have seen so far this year, when compared against last year it will appear that the housing market has began to steady itself and that the worst news is now behind us. The outlook for the remainder of 2008 also appears to be favorable based upon the recorded home sales in the back half of ’07. While the next few months may begin to appear more positive, its not much to get excited about. But then again it will be portrayed as a sign that the market is on track and that in itself will allay consumer skepticism. The perception will be perceived as a return to normalcy and as we all know, perception is reality, when in fact you know it as a false positive.

Pasadena Real Estate July 08