Micro-Market Snapshot: In Glendale, If It’s North of The 134 and Under $1 Million, It Sells
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In Glendale’s prettiest neighborhoods -- on the shade-dappled streets north of the 134, where Spanish Revivals are populated by what Realtor Gerri Cragnotti calls ‘studio people’ -- there are signs of a slowing market, but nothing approaching weakness.
‘If it’s under a million in Glendale, and it’s a nice house -- in move-in condition -- you will sell and you might get multiple offers,’ Cragnotti told LA Land this morning. ‘Over a million is a different story. There are 70 homes sitting on the market in the $1 million to $2 milliion range.’
Why the split market? At the $1 million price tag and above, ‘We have a lot of people who have to sell first before they buy. So houses are sitting on the market,’ she says. ‘In the $800,000 range -- and I know this sounds ridiculous -- but you have first-time buyers who don’t have to sell anything.’
Example: 1934 Verdugo Knolls, a picket fenced, 3-bedroom Traditional listed two days ago at $839,000, already has a full-price offer, Cragnotti says.
In the $700,000 to $900,000 range, Cragnotti says Glendale is stealing buyers from more expensive nearby neighborhoods, notably Los Feliz, Studio City, and Pasadena. ‘People move here for authenticity, for the character of the neighborhoods,’ she says.
Read below for more from Gerri Cragnotti, including her (intense) dislike of McMansions, and why fraud is a major cause of foreclosure in Glendale.
On Glendale’s Preservation Movement: “The city is very against ‘mansionization.’ Houses have to be compatible design-wise and size-wise.”
On Foreclosures: “Most of the foreclosures we’re seeing today around here are fraud -- they were intentionally planned when they purchased. They got 100% financing, they got cash back at closing, they buy themselves a new Mercedes and their kid a new BMW.”
On the Glendale real estate market in the near future: “It’s going to be flat.” She believes Rick Caruso’s coming Americana at Grand retail-and-residential development will help support home values. “I think it’ll give Glendale a lot of buzz.”
Pictured: 925 Crestview. 4-bedrooms, 2-bath, 2,300 square feet, listed at $1.150 million.
Gerri Cragnotti on the web: www.character-homes.com