What’s Actually Happening With Home Prices in Northeast LA, Pasadena & Tujunga in 2026?
Updated August 31st, 2026
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Hey, LA!
If you’ve been trying to make sense of the Los Angeles real estate market this year, here’s the first thing to know: there really isn’t one Los Angeles housing market.
A home in Eagle Rock can be experiencing a very different market than one a few miles away in Highland Park. Pasadena has its own rhythm. And up the foothills in Tujunga, buyers can still find substantially more house and land for their money, while prices have continued to hold surprisingly well.
That’s why broad headlines about “LA home prices” only tell part of the story.
For buyers and sellers in Northeast Los Angeles, Pasadena and Tujunga, the 2026 market has become increasingly hyper-local. Price, condition, architecture, location and even the particular block can dramatically affect how quickly a property sells and whether buyers compete for it.
Here’s what we’re seeing.
The Big Picture: Northeast LA Is Holding Its Value
Across Northeast Los Angeles, the median sale price was approximately $1.23 million for the three months ending June 2026, up about 2.9% year over year. Homes were taking around 39 days to sell, compared with 35 days during the same period last year.
That doesn’t exactly scream “housing crash.”
But the more interesting story is what happens when we zoom in.
Eagle Rock is behaving very differently from Highland Park
In Eagle Rock, the median sale price was approximately $1.44 million, up nearly 19% year over year, with homes selling in about 30 days.
Meanwhile, nearby Highland Park posted a median sale price of about $1.15 million, down roughly 4% from a year earlier, with homes taking approximately 49 days to sell.
Those neighborhoods practically share a backyard.
Yet one shows strong year-over-year price growth while the other shows a decline.
That’s precisely why I’m cautious about putting too much weight on a single median-price statistic. The mix of homes that happened to sell during a given period can move the number considerably, particularly in neighborhoods with everything from 900-square-foot bungalows to multimillion-dollar architectural homes.
Still, the contrast tells us something important:
Buyers are becoming more selective.
The Northeast LA Market Has Become a Tale of Two Houses
For several years, buyers often felt they had to move quickly simply because a reasonably good house had appeared.
That mentality has softened.
Today, the beautifully presented house on a desirable street may still generate substantial interest, multiple offers and a strong sale.
The house three blocks away with deferred maintenance, an awkward addition, poor presentation or an aspirational asking price may sit.
That distinction is showing up in the numbers.
For example, in the broader 90042 ZIP code, which includes much of Highland Park, the median sale price was about $1.05 million, down approximately 12% year over year. Roughly 41% of homes sold above asking, while nearly 30% of listings had experienced a price reduction.
In other words, bidding wars haven't disappeared.
They're just not automatic anymore.
And from a seller's perspective, that makes pricing, preparation and presentation much more important than they were during the frenzy years.
Pasadena: Stable Overall, Wildly Different From Neighborhood to Neighborhood
Pasadena's median sale price hovered around $1.25 million through June 2026, essentially flat from the previous year, while homes sold in roughly 35 days. Sales volume was down about 14% year over year.
On paper, that looks remarkably stable.
But “Pasadena” is an enormous real estate category.
A Spanish home near the Arroyo, a condominium near South Lake, a midcentury property in the hills, a Craftsman near Bungalow Heaven and a house east of Allen simply aren't competing for the same buyer.
And buyers moving between Northeast LA and Pasadena often discover something interesting:
the price gap isn't necessarily as large as they expect.
An Eagle Rock house can now easily compete in price with homes in some very desirable Pasadena neighborhoods.
What Pasadena often gives buyers in return is a different housing equation: larger lots in certain areas, more substantial homes, tree-lined residential streets and an enormous variety of architectural styles.
That makes the Eagle Rock-versus-Pasadena decision particularly interesting in 2026.
And Then There’s Tujunga...
Tujunga remains a different animal entirely.
The median sale price in 91042 was approximately $875,000 for the three months ending June, up about 9% from the previous year, according to Redfin. Homes were selling in roughly 35 days.
Realtor.com's data paints a similar picture, with a median sold price of approximately $930,000, up about 4% year over year, and substantially more inventory than a year ago.
That creates a fascinating value proposition.
A buyer who may be shopping for a relatively modest home around $1.1 million to $1.4 million in Eagle Rock, Highland Park or parts of Pasadena can often find significantly more square footage, land, garage space or views in Tujunga for less money.
Of course, Tujunga comes with its own set of considerations.
The housing stock is eclectic. Properties can include large hillside parcels, unusual additions, septic or cesspool systems on certain streets, extensive garage or workshop space and square footage that doesn't always fit neatly into the public record.
For the right buyer, those quirks are part of the appeal.
And as affordability becomes harder to find across Northeast LA, I think we're going to continue seeing buyers expand their searches north toward Tujunga, Sunland, La Crescenta and the foothill communities.
So Are Los Angeles Home Prices Going Up or Down?
The answer in 2026 is wonderfully irritating:
Yes.
They're going up in some neighborhoods.
They're down in others.
And they're essentially flat elsewhere.
Even within the same neighborhood, the difference between a desirable, well-prepared property and one that misses the mark can be substantial.
That's the real story of this market.
The era when nearly every house rose together simply because inventory was scarce has given way to something much more nuanced.
Buyers have choices again.
Not endless choices, but enough that they're willing to wait for the right house.
And when that house appears?
They're still willing to compete for it.
What This Means If You're Selling in Northeast LA or Pasadena
Sellers shouldn't interpret today's more selective market as a reason to panic.
They should interpret it as a reason to get the details right.
Homes that are thoughtfully prepared, accurately priced and marketed beautifully are still commanding attention.
But pricing a property based on what a neighbor received during a different market, or adding an arbitrary cushion because “buyers can always make an offer,” is becoming a much riskier strategy.
The first two weeks on the market matter enormously.
Your listing photographs matter.
The condition of the house matters.
The story you're telling about the property matters.
And increasingly, micro-location matters.
A buyer isn't simply deciding whether your house is worth $1.3 million. They're looking at every other compelling option they can buy for $1.3 million in Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Pasadena, Altadena and sometimes even farther up the foothills.
That's your actual competition.
What This Means If You're Buying
For buyers, 2026 may actually be one of the more interesting markets we've seen in a while.
You have more room to be discerning.
You may have negotiating leverage on homes that have been sitting.
And expanding your search by even a few miles can dramatically change what your budget buys.
But desirable homes are still desirable homes.
Waiting for every property to receive a price reduction isn't a particularly effective strategy when a special house appears in a coveted pocket of Eagle Rock or Pasadena.
The better approach is knowing which properties warrant competition and which ones don't.
My Take on the Rest of 2026
I expect the Northeast LA and Pasadena markets to continue looking less like one rising or falling tide and more like a collection of very small markets.
Great houses will continue to outperform average houses.
Homes with character, good light, usable outdoor space, thoughtful renovations and desirable locations should remain especially resilient.
Properties that are dated, oddly configured or aggressively priced will likely require more patience and negotiation.
And neighborhoods offering comparatively more value, particularly Tujunga and the foothill communities, are worth watching as buyers continue searching for alternatives to increasingly expensive pockets of Northeast LA.
For buyers and sellers, that's actually good news.
Because in a hyper-local market, knowledge matters again.
And that's a much more interesting real estate market to work in.
