Home values take slight dip

La Cañada Flintridge real estate has managed to hold its value in July despite the past year’s economic tribulations, according to reports compiled by Realtor Keith Sorem.

Despite 33 distressed-home sales in 2011, which normally drive real estate values down significantly, La Cañada Flintridge saw its overall value drop just 6% from last July to this July, Sorem said.

Sorem said that this was a relatively small drop considering the overall economic picture, and that in comparison, La Crescenta’s values dropped 8% in the same time frame.

“If you compare this July to last July, despite all the economic woes, it’s pretty amazing that it’s only changed that much,” Sorem said.

This drop meant the average residential sale price was $1.17 million in July, versus from $1.19 million the year before, according to Sorem’s report. There were 33 new sales in July, up from 26 last year, though new listings dropped from 24 to 21.

Paul Habibi, real estate professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, said because banks are lifting their foreclosure moratoriums and starting to get distressed houses off their books, more bank-owned properties are going to be sold.

The increase over the last year in distressed home sales in the city, which increased from 26 in 2010 to 33 this year, could have driven down home values, Sorem said.

“Thirty-three homes is a lot of homes to sell in La Cañada; they probably average more in the 20s or less,” Sorem said. “So one or two homes that sell differently can throw the whole average off.”

Sorem said in years past, the number of distressed-home sales in La Cañada Flintridge was small enough to not be worth tracking, but not anymore.