Pasadena CA Real Estate

For the straight five years, San Marino California has the distinction of being in the top 5 rated California school districts.  The scores are out and San Marino (SMUSD) has earned the highest Academic Performance Index (API) score in the state - 944 out of 1,000!

The API is a single number, ranging from a low of 200 to a high of 1000, that reflects a school's performance level, based on the results of statewide testing.

3 of the 5 highest performing California School districts are in the Pasadena area - San Marino, La Canada and Arcadia. 

Here are the top California School Districts:

Congratulations are in order to the students, teachers, administration and parents! 

San Marino real estate and home values have always been driven by the success of its schools.  Many potential San Marino home buyers are looking  to buy in San Marino after doing an analysis of private school tuitions and investment in a San Marino homes.

With San Marino home prices holding steady, it's clear to see that schools are still the driving factor for many relocating families.  

If you are interested in moving to San Marino, click here to see all available homes for sale in San Marino.

Read More:  San Marino, California

                San Marino Real Estate Deals - my monthly Dusty Deals report!

Here are the actual API scores as posted on September 4, 2008:

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Another school year is getting ready to start this Thursday, September 4, 2008 in Pasadena, but being the local Pasadena real estate resource, we've been getting a lot of emails about available public schools in Pasadena.

Here's a comprehensive list of all PUSD (Pasadena Unified School District) schools and their contact information.  PUSD also encompasses Altadena.

Pasadena school boundary maps are available at www.pusd.us/oe with a convenient neighborhood school locator available which allows you to key in your Pasadena, Sierra Madre or Altadena address to find your elementary, middle or high school.

The schools below have all participated in the California Standard Tests which are designed to assess student achievement in grades 2 through 11 in a variety of different subject matters including English Language Arts and Math. 

When selecting a Pasadena school, many parents look at the Academic Performance Indesx or API.  It is the cornerstone of the California state accountability  system which measures each individual school's imporvement.

The top API rated Pasadena Elementary Schools for 2006-2007 are:

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There are two things that make Bradley Court stand out in Monterey Hills.

First, it's the only PUD (Planned Unit Development) in Monterey Hills. It consists of 16 spacious homes with their own garages and their own individual style.

Second, built in 2001, Bradley Court is the last property complex built on the hill, making it the newest.

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I was just reading Petrea Burchard's post about a Pasadena bungalow that she photographed and was reflecting on the fascination that many of us have over these beautiful bungalows that make Pasadena so special.

What draws us to these homes?  Is it because they were so affordable and yet so beautiful?  Most of the homes in the Bungalow Heaven historic landmark district literally came out of the box.  In the early 1900s, you could buy a bungalow kit from Sears Roebuck if you lived on the East coast or on the West coast from The Ready Cut Bungalow Company.  These bungalow kit homes were priced from as little as $650.  Of course, the owners needed to throw in an extra $150 towards plumbing fixtures and a lot of sweat labor.

Or, is it because a lot of these Pasadena bungalows, also known as, California Bungalows, were built in the early 1900 when the Pasadena population was growing at an enormously fast rate?  Pasadena's Bungalow Heaven saw its population quadruple to 45,000 in 1920 from 10,000 in 1900.

I think that our love for the Pasadena bungalow is simply due to the simplicity and beauty of the bungalows design - kit or no kit.

So what is a Bungalow kit home?

Rosemary Thornton, co-author of the book about kit houses answers:

"Kit homes were sold via mail order catalogs and shipped to the wanna-be homeowner in about 10,000 pieces. These complex do-it-yourself kits came with a 75-page instruction book that told you how all those pieces went together. Kit home companies promised that a man "of average abilities" could build his own kit home in about 30-90 days."

Can you imagine ordering your home on-line and then having to go through a 75-page manual and 10,000 separate pieces to put it together?  To me, that is a monumental achievement! 

So maybe, it's not only the charm of these Pasadena bungalows that have us enthralled, but the love and strength that it took to build them, to achieve that ultimate dream - a dream of homeownership, that keeps us in awe.

PS The photo above is a home on Holliston Avenue in Historic Highlands.  It is not a kit box house.  I just think it is one of the more beautiful craftsman homes in Pasadena.  I've taken the liberty to post it here.  I will be posting photos of California Bungalow homes in this post later. 

Alhambra real estate market metrics are listed below, but I wanted to point out a couple of highlights.

For Alhambra, Single Family Residence homes (SFR), sales prices have risen over the last couple of months to the low $500,000, but the price per square foot of Alhambra homes sold has dropped significantly.  This is usually an indication that buyers are getting more house for their dollar.

Alhambra SFRs are selling on average for 96.34 percent of sales price to list price.  Although, 3 of 15 homes sold over asking and 3 homes sold at full asking price.

It's no surprise that the Alhambra homes that show as expired listings this month were seriously overpriced at $420 per sq. ft. on average.  Sellers are not paying attention to Alhambra real estate market metrics that clearly show that homes are selling around $350 per sq. ft. on average.

The lowest priced home (SFR) in Alhambra is currently listed at $360,000.

The highest priced (SFR) Alhambra home is currently listed at $998,000.

Inventory for condos and townhomes has fallen slightly in the month of July, but Alhambra condos and townhome buyers that have opened escrow each month remain pretty consistent at 10 to 11 homes each month. 

Alhambra Real Estate Market Housting Report - May 2008 - July 2008:

Data compiled from ITEC (Pasadena Foothill Association Multiple Listing Service)

I invite you to request Alhambra's real estate market updated reports by clicking here.  These reports are compiled by Altos Research and the analysis is emailed to you weekly.  I also offer real estate market reports for San Gabriel, San Marino, South Pasadena, Pasadena, Arcadia, Altadena, Monterey Hills and more.  These reports can be ordered at the same time.

If you would like to search for homes in Alhambra, please visit the free home search here on this site.

For a private consultation about buying or selling your home, or if you have other real estate related questions, I'd love to hear from you at 626.627.7107.

Irina :-)