Ryan Carter
La Canada Flintridge houses the most expensive dwellings compared to
other foothill communities, but nearby Montrose saw the most dramatic
increase in prices, based on a recent survey of home prices.
The 91020 zip code of Montrose showed the most pronounced jump of
the foothill communities in March. There, the median home price
jumped 28.5% to $353,000, according to numbers from DataQuick, a San
Diego-based home price tracking firm that released the data April 21.
Seven homes were sold in the zip code during that time.
The median price is the cost at which half the prices are less and
half are more.
In La Canada Flintridge, 29 homes were sold in the 91011 zip code
and prices jumped 2.5%, compared to March 2002, to $661,000. The
median price of a home in the 91214 zip code -- which includes
unincorporated La Crescenta and the portion annexed by Glendale --
was $409,000 in March, a 7.5% increase from the year before.
Fifty-two single-family homes were sold there during the month.
Part of the reason for the spikes continues to be low interest
rates coupled with high demand, less supply and quality of living in
the area, real estate agents said.
"We've seen prices continue to rise pretty steadily," said Realtor
Patsy Van Dyke, who works in the La Canada Flintridge office of
Dilbeck Realtors. "It's attributable to an outstanding school system
and proximity to downtown [Los Angeles]. And demand far exceeds
supply."
Van Dyke said the trend should continue, particularly as interest
rates remain low. People see real estate as a good investment as
investors reel from what has been a sluggish stock market, she said.
In La Canada Flintridge, where the market is based on
$500,000-plus homes, agents tend to see people moving from smaller to
larger homes or from homes in surrounding areas. Good schools tend to
be the magnet, Van Dyke said, adding that the area of La Canada
Flintridge outside of the city's school district has lower-priced
homes that can skew the median price downward.
Average and median home prices can be deceiving, agents said. In
March, one home on Ocean View Boulevard along the western border of
La Canada Flintridge but not in its school district, sold in the
$300,000 range, Re/Max Tri-City Realtor Phyllis Harb said. And
average sales of 19 realtor-brokered homes in La Canada Flintridge
sold at an average of $983,000, she said.
More first-time buyers seem to be looking at the La Crescenta area
to settle, Van Dyke said.
Signs do show a slowing of sales. For instance, the number of
sales for Los Angeles County for March were down 8.8% from 10,651 to
9,712. DataQuick President Marshall Prentice released in a statement
that the slowing could be a result of buyers distracted by the war in
Iraq, concerns over the economy and sticker shock.
