Housing market continues its climb

Average cost of a Glendale singlefamily home leaps by 30% over the past 12 months.GLENDALE -- The fear of rising mortgage loan rates and the benefits of Glendale’s low crime rate, schools and proximity to Los Angeles drove up the selling price of single-family homes and condominiums in November by almost 30% compared to November of 2004.

The median Glendale selling price -- at which half of the properties cost more and half are less -- of homes and condos in November 2004 was $552,500, but that figure jumped to $713,750 for November of 2005, La Jolla-based DataQuick reported Dec. 19.

La Cañada Flintridge topped the area in both median selling price and percent of increase compared to November 2004. The median selling price was up 41.6%, $936,000 to $1.3 million, DataQuick reported. That is more than twice as high as selling prices were in 2002.

Potential buyers typically get off the fence when interest rates are on the rise, and that might account for part of last month’s high sales count, said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president. In Glendale, a total of 134 homes and condominiums were sold in November. In La Cañada Flintridge, 20 were sold, and between La Crescenta and Montrose, deals were made on 44 properties.

Jim Reichgelt, a Realtor with Dilbeck/GMAC Real Estate in Glendale, doesn’t see a market collapse any time soon.

“I never have believed in the bubble the doomsayers talk about,” Reichgelt said. “There hasn’t been anything to support that. They’ve been saying that for four years and nothing happens.”

He expects the market to level off but remain stable.

“There is less land and the land that is available is unbuildable in Glendale and Burbank due to hillside ordinances,” he said. “Then we have people coming into the Glendale-Los Angeles area from all over the world.”

Though the numbers show a strong economy, there are some drawbacks, he said.

“The prices are higher so you’re not going to find any low-income housing in Glendale,” Reichgelt said.

That limits home buying to middle- or high-income families, he added.

Glendale offers all types of housing to appeal to any home buyer, said City Councilman Dave Weaver, who has lived in the city for 67 years.

“We got a lot of good things going for us and different niches in the community,” Weaver said. “If you go on up to Montrose you see a different community than you do downtown. That area is totally different than down there so you can find your own niche that you like.”

The drawback, however, is that with the demand has come the spiking home prices.

“At the cost of housing today I couldn’t afford to buy the house I’m living in,” Weaver said. That’s not just Glendale but every city around Los Angeles. The dream of a family buying a house is no longer reasonable. Will the bubble burst? I don’t know but there’s only so much available land and when it’s built out what are you going to do?”

Weaver is supporting plans to develop more condominiums in the downtown area to attract young professionals who enjoy spending money on entertainment and retail, he said.

“That will free up more single-family housing, where we can stick young married families of professionals with two incomes,” he said.