Median home prices drop in Glendale

The real estate market in Glendale appeared to stall a bit last month as median home prices fell for the first time in over a year, despite a continued small number of homes for sale and a bevy of potential buyers, according to the latest real estate report.

The median price of a single-family home fell 1.6% compared to March 2012, from $578,000 to $569,000, according to statistics compiled by Realtor Keith Sorem with Keller Williams Realty in Glendale.

The median price of a condominium increased, however, rising 26%. The median price climbed from $255,000 a year ago to $322,000 last month.

Shannon Cistulli, Realtor with Dilbeck Estates in Glendale, said that despite the drop in median price, the fact that the price per square foot rose – up 16% compared to a year ago – meant the market actually is improving.

“All [the drop in median price] means is that different sized homes sold, because in Glendale we’re not a cookie-cutter area,” she said. “We have homes that could sell for $2 million or $200,000.”

Housing inventory remains thin, according to Sorem’s report. There were 75 homes on the market last month, a 44% drop from 134 a year ago. Condos saw a smaller drop, declining 24%, from 61 for sale in March 2012 to only 46 last month.

Cistulli said Realtors are just waiting for more sellers to jump into the housing pool.

“It’s really all up to the sellers at this point,” she said. “If sellers are able to sell their homes who weren’t able to in the past, we may see more inventory and that will put us into a more balanced market.”

The number of homes sold held basically steady last month. Fifty-one homes sold in March, compared to 52 last year. Condo sales declined, however, with 22 sold last month, down 45% from 40 in March 2012.

In the La Crescenta-Montrose area, 30 single-family homes were on the market last month, a 33% drop from 45 in March 2012, according to Sorem’s report. Twenty-five homes sold last month, up from 22 a year ago.

Unlike in Glendale, the median price of a home rose in La Crescenta, from $495,000 in March 2012 to $610,000 last month.

Eleven condos sold last month, up from five a year ago. And there were just three condos on the market, down from 22 in March 2012.

In La Cañada Flintridge, the number of single-family homes for sale declined to 41, a 37% drop from 65 a year ago, but the number of homes sold ticked up from 22 to 26.

The median price rose to just over $1.25 million.

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