California just hit a new home price record, but Pasadena has been living in that reality for a while.
The statewide median home price climbed to $914,810 in April, Pasadena Now reported, citing new data from the California Association of Realtors. At the same time, Pasadena’s median sale price reached nearly $1.3 million in March, about 37 percent higher than the statewide benchmark and well above Los Angeles County’s $845,410 median in April, which was down 0.6 percent from a year prior.
Statewide home affordability ticked up modestly as 22 percent of households could afford a median-priced home in the first quarter, representing the highest share in four years. Buying in Pasadena still requires a steeper income threshold, with a household needing to earn roughly $259,000 annually to qualify for a home at the city’s median price, assuming a 20 percent down payment and mortgage rates around 6.3 percent.
The statewide jump was fueled in part by an 8.4 percent increase in sales of homes priced above $2 million, according to C.A.R. Existing single-family home sales across California rose 4.1 percent year over year in April, though transaction volume remained historically subdued, staying below 300,000 trades on an annualized pace for the 43rd straight month. Pasadena’s market reflects that high-end tilt more intensely. Homes in the city received an average of four offers and sold in about 32 days in March, per Redfin data cited by Pasadena Now. The median price per square foot climbed 6.4 percent year over year to $844, even as overall sales volume fell to 74 transactions from 92 a year earlier.
“The increase in the median price was driven in large part by the composition of sales, with a greater share of activity occurring in higher-priced segments of the market,” Jordan Levine, C.A.R.’s senior vice president and chief economist, said.
The city’s inventory remains tight more than a year after the Eaton fire reshaped the housing landscape in Altadena and eastern Pasadena. The deadly blazes destroyed housing stock in an already constrained corridor and sparked increased investor activity in fire-impacted neighborhoods. Redfin found investors bought roughly 40 percent of vacant lots sold in Eaton and Palisades fire zones during the third quarter of 2025.— Chris Malone Méndez
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