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Here’s an update on a couple of houses I’ve posted on before, both of them prime examples of bubble excess. Both are in the San Rafael neighborhood of Pasadena. One has now sold, one is in escrow, hundreds of thousands of dollars went down the drain along the way. Is this how we’ll hit the floor on prices?

House 1

Two bedroom, 1,400-square-foot house, sold in June for $700,000.

This house was in an earlier post titled ‘Bad Haircut in Pasadena.’

Its history:

Aug. ‘04: Sold for $637,500
June ‘07: Sold for $855,000
Dec. 08: Foreclosed, $687,048

House 2

A 2,300-square-foot house now in escrow. It had last been listed at $727,650. I think I recall it being listed for more than $1 million in 2008 (sorry, I don’t have access to MLS listing history).

Its history:

Dec. ‘06: Sold $898,000
May ‘09: Foreclosed $650,250

Both houses show the slow, wasteful road to a sale at the current market price. Will this price level become the floor? Will we see more short sales or other moves to make the process more efficient?

-- Peter Y. Hong