“Money circling around” as Altadena burned lot sales outpace Palisades

“It’s [values are] changing every week,” said The Agency’s Jason Bergman, who is based out of Pasadena. “There’s a lot of money circling around. I’ll tell you that.”

The rush of activity comes as more homeowners process the destruction caused by the Palisades and Eaton fires. That’s led to their decisions on whether to go the route of a multi-year community rebuild process or sell lots and move forward more quickly.

Altadena activity is outpacing that of the Pacific Palisades, although pricing in the latter is significantly more.

To illustrate the frenzy that’s now spreading into Pasadena, less than 4 miles south of Altadena, Bergman said his listing at 331 Glen Summer Road went into contract in three days. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom property was listed for $3.2 million and sold for $3.9 million in early March. There was also 2086 Brigden Road in Pasadena, which generated 15 offers and went into contract in less than a week after about 300 buyers attended the open house. Brigden Road, sold in mid-March for $1.6 million, or about 24 percent over the asking price.  

“People don’t want to wait years for their homes to be rebuilt,” Bergman said.

If they do want to wait it out, he said, they’re still putting money down on a home now so that when their Altadena property is rebuilt, they’ll list it and remain in their more recent purchase.  

For many families looking to buy, Pasadena is a logical move because children in Altadena are already part of the Pasadena Unified School District, Bergman said. 

The uptick in demand, coupled with a rise in activity that started pre-wildfires, is feeding into what the agent called “a perfect storm for this area.”

Read the article here: https://therealdeal.com/la/2025/04/17/altadena-burned-lot-sales-outpace-pacific-palisades/