Affordability: looming issue for local housing market. Increase in interest rates and tapering prices make great incentives for buyers, for now. Arcadia Association of Realtors (AAR) says the housing market was strong this spring.
Anti-mansionization goes to the ballot. Zoning code issue continues as anti-mansionization group Saving Arcadia (an outgrowth of Save the Arcadia Highlands) takes it to the ballot in April 2018. At issue are Floor Area Ratios (FAR). See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1, 17, April 7, 2016-initiative did not make it onto ballot because of signature discrepancy.
Arcadia City Council approves Arcadia Highlands land development projects at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive. The larger scale new construction of mansions will replace existing homes. The primary bone of contention came down to whether or not property owners' rights to maximize their investment and exercise freedom to build as they see fit should prevail over homeowners associations and residents concerned with maintaining a neighborhood's traditional aesthetic character while protecting neighboring properties' scenic views and privacy.
Arcadia City Council clears way for massive new homes at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive, despite opposition to the increasing "mansionization," from several members of the Highland Oaks Homeowners Association (HOA). City Council voted to move forward with both projects, finding they complied with city's zoning codes and were exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The two homes met the city's design guidelines and met the resolution that governs design in the HOA areas.
Arcadia City Council decided that Arcadia residents will not be allowed to change their house addresses, despite concerns some have about the fear of the number four. See same story on November 3, 2011, pages S1 and S2 of San Gabriel Valley edition of the San Marino Tribune.
Arcadia City Council delays vote on Arcadia Highlands home building projects. Council will address the matter again on February 3, to allow for more time to vet newly received petitions from area residents and a detailed letter from an attorney representing a leading opponent of the developments, that the City received last week. Both projects, one at 1600 Highland Oaks Drive, the other at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue, and both designed by Robert Tong of Arcadia-based Sanyao International Inc., involve the demolition of vintage homes to make room for larger residences.
Arcadia City Council has agreed to reconsider the controversial policy of not allowing homeowners to change their addresses, after several homeowners complained they can't sell their homes at fair market value, due to a popular Chinese belief that the number four is unlucky. Arcadia Mayor Gary Kovacic said, "...I think we have to look at the true economic impact of this." Councilman Roger Chandler said, "I don't think we should operate public policy on superstition."
Arcadia City Council today will once more reconsider whether to allow customer-requested address changes in light of concerns about a Chinese superstition involving the number four. Since the number four sounds like the word for death in Mandarin and is considered unlucky, some realtors and residents have argued that addresses that end in the number four are more difficult to sell and affect home prices. The cost of processing an address change would be about $2600.
Arcadia housing boom with Chinese dollars? Bloomberg BusinessWeek says kickbacks and Chinese cash deals are fueling the rapid growth of mansions in Arcadia.
Arcadia is praised for its top-scoring schools, ranch-style homes, and lack of ethnic tensions and political turmoil in similar cities like Monterey Park.
Arcadia set a local record for the highest percentage increase in the median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California, as compared to a year ago, with an increase of 28.2%.
Ballot initiative targeting large scale homes in Arcadia (often referred to as McMansions) will not make it on the ballot after all. The city clerk's office discovered a discrepancy in the number of qualifying signatures. Saving Arcadia is the local activist group behind the initiative.
Brandywine to build seventeen 3-story townhomes in Arcadia. This development brings more affordable options to Arcadia, at 136 Las Tunas Drive. Prices are expected to range from high $600,000s to high $900,000s.
California home sales are growing as values fall. A chart of October's median home prices gives a picture of the local real estate landscape. Arcadia's median home price in October, 2008 was $697,500, down 12.1% from the median price of $793,500 in October, 2007.
California's median home price posted its biggest annual gain in more than 5 years last month, rising 20.8% to $301,790, as reported by California Association of Realtors. Arcadia has the second-largest increase in the state with its median home price jumping 40.2% in March to $726,136 compared to $518,000 a year earlier.
City to release first round of education campaign on Arcadia real estate rules and local zoning code in a forthcoming City newsletter. The campaign will include public meetings in November and an advisory committee comprised of Arcadia residents.
County home prices were up slightly in April after more than 1.5 years of declines, according to the California Association of Realtors. Arcadia's median home price was $689,090 in April, down 8% from a year ago. A chart shows figures from other local cities.
Fueld by rising prices in Arcadia, Pomona, Pico Ribera and most beach cities, the Los Angeles metropolitan area bucked a national trend this year, as it saw a 3.3% year-over-year gain in home prices, according to a report by Standard & Poor's and Case-Shiller. Arcadia saw a 39.6% increase in home prices this year.