Local home values down about 20%

Home values in the Foothills have fallen by as much as 20% during the last 18 months, according to longtime real estate agents working in the La Cañada Flintridge and Crescenta Valley markets.

While the area continues to attract would-be homeowners with family-oriented neighborhoods and reputable schools, the agents said, local real estate has nevertheless been seriously impacted by the global economic recession.

Janice McGlashan runs a Coldwell Banker office in La Cañada and has worked in residential real estate for 20 years. She said she first noticed a slowdown in business in late 2007, well before the current recession reached the public consciousness. Then, last summer, the drop off became quite dramatic. Prices have fallen about 20%, McGlashan estimated.

“Anybody who thinks [the La Cañada real estate market has] not been affected is not selling houses,” McGlashan said. “This definitely has affected us all. Buyers are being very careful, thoughtful and unemotional.”

Hardest hit, McGlashan said, have been high-end properties that require that buyers secure large loans, or so called “jumbo loans,” in order to complete the purchase. With credit lines frozen, such sales have slowed down, she said.

Robbyn Battles of Battles Real Estate Company in Montrose said she has noticed two distinct changes in her work selling houses in the Foothills. The first, she said, is that it is simply taking longer for homes to sell. The second, she said, is that buyers are seeking out detailed information on the sale process and on the real estate market itself.

“As agents, we are having much longer conversations with our clients. I think the clients want to understand it,” Battles said.

La Cañada and La Crescenta avoided a complete residential real estate collapse suffered in areas such as the Inland Empire, Battles said, partly because of the communities’ limited supply of homes. For example, there are 10,162 single-family homes in La Crescenta, and just 72 are currently listed for sale. That is not far off from the 35 homes listed for sale at the peak of the market in 2006, she said.