Pasadena CA Real Estate

This Arcadia real estate market report is a few weeks overdue. My apologies for the delay, but I was struck down with the worst flu that I ever remember having. Oh well… it’s over and done with. I hope at least.

Single Family Home sales in Arcadia remained at 31 closed escrows just like in August, down from the high of 50 home sales in July. Inventory increased a bit to 129 listings, but essentially remained flat if you look at the last five months of data. Arcadia homes are selling at 96.33% of asking price in September, with 9 out of the 31 selling at or over asking.

Arcadia condos have seen an increase in sales in September, but the inventory remains pretty stable. If the rate of sales will hold and inventory remains the same, it’ll take approximately 10 weeks to move the existing inventory. Arcadia home sellers are still overpricing their condos and are listing them on average at $317 per square foot. The sold price per square foot has fallen under $300.

Arcadia townhomes had an increase in inventory mainly due to a new complex that hit the market in early September at 1016 – 1020 West Huntington Drive. These townhomes were built in 2007 and are selling in the low $800,000 range. Again, listing price per square foot ($347) on most of the townhome listings is way higher than the actual sold price per square foot ($293) in September. Arcadia townhome sellers need to track the real estate trends a bit closer or they will end up sitting on these homes for a long time and then reducing home prices more significantly to bring in a buyer. The absorption rate increase speaks clearly to the overabundance of townhome listings vs. buyers.

Also Read: Arcadia Real Estate Market Trends for August 2008

Arcadia Real Estate Market Statistics for September 2008:

Data taken from ITEC (Pasadena Foothills Association MLS service)

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ARCADIA HOMES FOR SALE (Single Family Residence)

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ARCADIA CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES FOR SALE

For weekly updates on Arcadia
real estate market activity, please feel free to request market
analysis reports with detailed information by clicking here. These reports are gathered and updated by Altos Research and will be emailed to you with my compliments.

In reviewing the last four months of Arcadia’s real estate market activity, it was interesting to note that the price per square foot of sold homes has remained fairly constant throughout the summer for all types of housing.  The number of homes sold during July was the highest which is in line with the cyclical nature of real estate driven by summer moves and parents not wanting to disrupt their kids with school changes. 

The inventory of Arcadia homes for sale is beginning to decrease which is a good sign since at the height of the summer season, we had over 22 weeks of absorption of existing homes on the market.

Arcadia real estate is still very clearly a buyers market and I anticipate it will remain a buyers market throughout the slower winter months.

In August, 31 SFR (Single Family Residences) sold at 95.16% of asking price.  Having said that, the asking price of 9 of these homes was reduced from the original price and that was not included in the calculation of this statistic.   A lot of Arcadia home sellers are still not realistic in setting their home prices and are overpricing their homes thereby chasing the market down and losing more money in the end. 

If you are not a motivated seller, don’t put your home on the market and save yourself a lot of grief.

Altos Research group after analyzing the Arcadia real estate market says the following:

“Inventory has been tightening and days-on-market increasing recently. The Market Action Index has been basically flat, not providing strong indication for market conditions.”

Here’s the Market Action Index Chart that Altos is referring to:

For more information on how to interpret the Market Action Index graph, see my post titled Buyers’ or Sellers Market?  Market Action Indicator may offer help!

Here’re the last four months of real estate market statistics for Arcadia, California:

SEARCH ARCADIA HOMES FOR SALE (Single Family Residence)

SEARCH ARCADIA CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES FOR SALE

Data taken from ITEC (Pasadena Foothills Association MLS service)

For weekly updates on Arcadia real estate market activity, please feel free to request market analysis reports with detailed information by clicking here.  These reports are gathered and updated by Altos Research and will be emailed to you with my compliments.

Pasadena Real Estate Blog is very pleased to welcome a new guest author – SavedByGrace from the Arcadia Housing Blog. I have been reading the Arcadia Housing Blog for the last 8 months now and find a non real estate agent’s perspective on the state of the housing market in Arcadia refreshing and interesting. So without further delay, here’s SavedByGrace and a community profile for Peacock Village in Arcadia.

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This will be the first of several community profiles showcasing different areas in the city of Arcadia. The idea is to provide a general overview of distinct communities so that readers who are not familiar with the area have a better understanding of these places. While this has been on my to-do list for weeks, the credit goes to IrvineRenter over at IHB for coming up with this great idea. Without further adieu, our first community profile will be Peacock Village.

Peacock Village is bounded by Michillinda Avenue to the west, Baldwin Avenue to the east, Huntington Drive to the south and Colorado Street to the north. There’s a small area just west of Baldwin (north of the race track) that I also consider as part of this community.

Peacock Village is one of the older parts of Arcadia. A large piece of the land was bought by Scottish immigrant Hugo Reid in the mid-1800s and Hugo Reid Drive & Hugo Reid Park are named after this early resident. As you can see from the map, Peacock Village backs right up to the Arboretum of Los Angeles county. This is where the many peafowl reside, hence the name Peacock Village.

The peacocks are left to roam free in the surround neighborhoods and they frequently leave the boundaries of the Arboretum and enter the surrounding streets. Even as I drove through the neighborhood this past weekend I was stopped by many who park their pretty selves smack-dab in the middle of the road. These beautiful, yet stubborn creatures are the symbol of Arcadia.

One of the features that speaks to me is the tranquility of the neighborhood. The community is separated from the 210 freeway by Colorado Blvd and two high walls plus ample trees to remove the residential area from the road as much as possible. Although it is next to the racetrack, arboretum, Westfield mall and 210 freeway, it was astoundingly quiet on a Saturday afternoon. I didn’t do a drive-by with a muscle car or a Harley-Davidson, but I felt like the hum of my engine was the loudest thing for miles.

Many of the streets are curved and less grid-like than the rest of Arcadia, yet the structure of the community resembles more of the new OC developments with its carefully planned entrances and exits. There are 4 in/outlets off Colorado between Michillinda & Baldwin and 3 in/outlets off Huntington Drive. There are several more off Michillinda and just one exit to Baldwin. Some of the streets are only outlets that denies entrance to the community through the means of tire spikes. This restricts unnecessary traffic flow into the community that may come from the mall, racetrack or arboretum. It works well too because I frequently found myself accidentally exiting only to circle around to find a way back in.

The roads are often lined with giant, old trees that cast a big canopy over the wide streets. The lots are not the biggest offered in Arcadia, but they are a bit larger than many others in the rest of the city.

On top of that, I often see peacocks in the front lawn of many homes. They bring a wonderful sense of nature into this little suburban neighborhood. Wouldn’t that be a lovely thing to wake up to on a lazy weekend morning?

To its west side there is Hugo Reid Elementary School and Park. A typical Saturday afternoon consists of an all-American little league game complete with hotdogs and cheering family members. The tot-lot next to the field was clean and well maintained. There was also a medium sized open grassy area beyond the outfield, several tennis courts and what looked like a small batting cage. This park speaks well to the family-friendliness of the neighborhood.

During my drive through the area I saw mainly older, but well maintained homes with clean-cut, landscaped yards. The were many traditional ranch homes as well as several contemporary and colonial style homes. Most of the homes were sized to fit the lot and I was happy to see only a handful of newer McMansions.

If I have showcased your house and you would like the picture removed, just leave a comment or send me an email and I will take the picture down. I chose these homes because they represent the neighborhood and are probably homes that stood out to me. Here are some more for your viewing pleasure.

It is neighborhoods like this that draw me to the city of Arcadia. This is a beautiful, clean and serene community that clearly depicts pride of ownership. I find this neighborhood very family friendly and would consider a purchase here myself. If you live in this Arcadia neighborhood, I congratulate you on your purchase and thank you for doing your part to maintain the beauty of its character.

Thank you SavedByGrace!