Tight housing market in Glendale pushes home prices higher

The real estate market in Glendale continued improving last month as demand for a dwindling number of homes on the market pushed up median home prices, according to the latest real estate report.

The median price for a single-family home rose roughly 21% to $516,000 last month, compared with $425,000 in January 2012, according to statistics compiled by Realtor Keith Sorem with Keller Williams Realty in Glendale.

The median price for condominiums also increased, rising 14% from $236,000 in January 2012 to $269,000 last month.

The jump follows several months of similar increases as the continued shortage of homes for sale creates bidding wars that drive up the prices of those that sell.

There were 18 homes for sale in Glendale last month, a 70% decrease from 60 a year ago. There was also a 70% drop in condominiums on the market, with 27 available last month compared with 90 a year ago.

January did see 18 homes sold, up from 13 during January 2012. And 25 condos sold last month, down slightly from 28 the previous January.

Glendale Realtor Kendyl Young with Teles Properties said that while demand is high — she’s received at least four offers on every property she’s listed in the last nine months — prices aren’t increasing proportionately.

“Supply-[and]-demand rules are just not acting the way they should,” she said. “The buyer still has a huge amount of fear that we’ll see a dip [in home values] or they won’t be able to make payments because of instability in the economy.”

Young said other factors keeping prices down include difficulty obtaining a loan or a favorable home appraisal.

Meanwhile, the California Homeowner’s Bill of Rights, which went into effect on Jan. 1, has apparently slowed the pace of foreclosures.

There were 138 notices of default — the first step in the foreclosure process — issued in Glendale last month, compared with 198 during the same period in 2012, according to Sorem’s stats.

The homeowner’s bill of rights includes new laws that prevent mortgage servicers from advancing the foreclosure process if a homeowner is working on securing a loan modification. After the homeowner completes a modification application, the foreclosure process is paused.

Young said the new law hasn’t affected her business yet, and the real impact will come once banks start selling already-foreclosed properties.

“Once banks get their act together and start selling some of this foreclosure property, we have enough buyers to absorb it,” she said.

In the La Crescenta-Montrose area, 18 single-family homes were on the market last month, a 70% drop from 60 for sale in January 2012. Eighteen homes sold last month, five more than a year ago.

The median price jumped from $425,000 in January 2012 to $516,000 last month.

There were three condos sold and three on the market in La Crescenta last month, down from 25 condos for sale and five sold a year ago.

In La Cañada Flintridge, the number of single-family homes for sale declined to 27, a 49% drop from 53 a year ago, and the number of homes sold fell from 10 to 7.

The median price rose to just over $1.19 million, a 10% increase.

--

Follow Daniel Siegal on Google+ and on Twitter: @Daniel_Siegal