South Pasadena California Real Estate | Pasadena & South Pasadena Real Estate

Pasadena & South Pasadena Real Estate, A Tale of Two Cities

The recent September market reports analyzing the sales of Pasadena homes along with the sales of homes in the South Pasadena real estate market described two very different scenarios. How could two cities so close together have such very different results? To recheck my results I went back and reviewed the data only this time I used the same search parameters. The results were both predictable and surprising.

Previously the analysis was completed two different ways. For Pasadena, I looked at the current month and compared it to the same month last year. This is the manner in which the data appears in all of the monthly housing reports you see in the media including newspaper and television. South Pasadena was reported differently. Due to the small number of homes in this market, comparing months in a year versus year analysis can have a wide variance. Therefore the results were compared looking at 9 months from January – September (2007 vs 2008).

What we see is when the market was increasing, the gap in home values was fairly consistent and predictable. The appreciation rates in both markets appeared to be linear. However, when the market began its decline the story was much different. The decline in South Pasadena has been much more of a flat line with very little growth or decline from 2006 to 2008. Pasadena on the other hand has shown to be much more volatile than its neighbor to the south. Especially just within the last year.

According to the 2000 census, Pasadena has roughly 54,132 housing units and almost a 46% ownership rate. South Pasadena on the other hand has about 11,000 units with 45% ownership as of 2002. The Pasadena housing market is approximately 5 times the size of South Pasadena, however rental rates and home ownership are basically the same. So why does Pasadena with its many more options and opportunities for home ownership become more susceptible to market declines?

The source for the date is the i-Tech MLS. The data was not verified for its accuracy or duplicity.

South Pasadena Real Estate Shows Pricing Momentum

Home sales in South Pasadena are represented in a dichotomous group. On one hand you have statistics indicating that fewer homes are being sold. In fact, that can be said of most markets here in the San Gabriel Valley. Housing markets across the state which are showing unit increases are due to the foreclosure activity and the reemergence of the low end market. However, the South Pasadena real estate market hasn’t experienced a high degree of foreclosures; therefore price stability has been more of the rule.

Contributing to the division in South Pasadena is the widening gap between single family units and condo’s / townhomes. Sales of condos and townhomes are just slow. Just like we have seen in the Pasadena real estate market, there is declining demand. Maybe the limited numbers of home buyers in the market are opting instead to purchase single family homes. If you price it right, they will come! Is this heaven? No, it’s South Pasadena.

South Pasadena Single Family

If you are selling a home in South Pasadena above $850,000 the odds are in your favor that you will do well. Due to the limited number of home sales each month, I went back and looked at the last three months to get a better idea of the activity and hopefully avoid any monthly momentum swings. Although the unit volume declined 26% in the last three months, the median price is up about $350,000. Of the 30 homes that were sold, 19 of these were over $1MM. Of the 50 + homes that are for sale, homes priced over $1MM represent about 40% of those listings.

Source: i-Tech MLS

South Pasadena Condo’s and Townhomes

Gains in the single family market were offset by losses in condo’s and townhomes. Unit sales declined more than 50%, while the median price fell $182,000 or 30%. There are about 27 units currently on the market that are in the “active” or “pending” stages. Only 2 units sold in the month of July.

Source: i-Tech MLS

Summary

Before calling your friends in Riverside County and telling them that the price of your house increased by 40%, understand that this is just a snapshot of a particular point in time. It could easily be an anomaly due to the pricing mix assortment that happened in this period. We’ll take a look in another 3 months and see what has transpired.

Other topics of interest:

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Pasadena Median Home Price History