The direct rolling-three-month Redfin ZIP resale observation presents a mixed liquidity picture rather than rental evidence. Median sold price was $798,320, up 3.34% year over year, while 43 homes sold and median marketing time was 53 days. Inventory was 82 homes and months of supply stood at 5.7. Sellers on average received 100.75% of list price, yet 38.13% of sales closed above list, so the sale-to-list signals are not uniform. This is a for-sale observation only; it does not describe rental transactions or establish pricing for an individual rental home. Annualized ZIP Zillow rent divided by that median sale price is 4.36%, a cross-source screening ratio only, not a measure of property-level economics.
Current Zillow ZORI for this ZIP is $2,901 per month, with a 2.61% year-over-year decline. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a count of leases signed or a utility-inclusive tenant cost. For wider asking-rent context, Pasadena city is at $2,939, Los Angeles County is at $2,808, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro is at $2,927; each is a wider geographic context rather than a substitute for the ZIP reading. The ZIP therefore sits slightly below the city and metro context values while remaining above the county context value, but those comparisons do not identify like-for-like buildings or bedroom mixes.
The rent path shows cooling in the recent window but not a uniformly declining longer record. Exact same-month Zillow ZORI change was negative 2.61% over one year, versus annualized gains of 1.16% over three years and 4.01% over five years. Recent direction therefore breaks from the positive longer path, rather than confirming it. Annualized variability in monthly returns was 1.98%, which supports more confidence in the continuity of the measured series than in a single month as a permanent level. Separately, the largest observed peak-to-trough decline was 4.06%, showing that modest current variability did not eliminate prior downward movement. History has 100% coverage. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs place stability at 119, momentum at 2,570, and the balanced measure at 1,677; these are backward-looking discovery tools, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The five-digit label 91101 is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA label. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. In the matched ACS five-year survey, occupied renter homes had median gross rent of $2,270, with a $71 margin of error; gross rent includes selected utilities. That survey median is 27.8% below the current ZORI asking-rent index. The gap is a source-universe difference: ACS describes occupied renter homes over a survey period, whereas ZORI describes a current typical asking-rent index. It should not be read as a concession estimate, lease-renewal result, or evidence that any available unit rents at either figure.
Bedroom figures are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents. They scale the ZIP ZORI using the local HUD ladder, producing monthly estimates of $2,250 for a studio, $2,398 for one bedroom, $2,901 for two bedrooms, $3,815 for three bedrooms, and $4,416 for four bedrooms. The local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent; its two-bedroom standard is $3,070, placing the ZIP ZORI 5.5% below that benchmark. This relationship helps preserve the local bedroom ladder when translating the blended ZORI index, but it does not demonstrate what a specific studio, apartment, or house is offered for today.
The 30% required-income screen is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. A household would need $116,040 of annual income for the $2,901 monthly asking-rent index to equal 30% of income. The matched ACS median household income is $87,813, and the annualized asking-rent screen equals 39.64% of that median income. ACS also reports 4,650 of 9,760 renter households, or 47.64%, as spending 30% or more of income on gross rent. That burden measure concerns occupied renter households and utility-inclusive gross rent, while the current ZORI comparison uses asking rent. Neither measure proves a particular household's payment capacity or the burden associated with a particular available unit.
The matched ACS ZCTA has 12,408 housing units, of which 901 were vacant, producing a 7.26% vacancy rate across all vacancy categories. Renters account for 84.82% of occupied homes, and the housing stock includes 7,688 units in large multifamily structures. These figures provide a stock and occupancy backdrop for a renter-dominant area, but they are not a direct reading of available apartments in the current asking-rent index. In particular, an area-level vacancy rate cannot establish vacancy at a given building, floor plan, or unit, and the ACS stock universe should remain separate from Redfin's rolling resale inventory and sales flow.
The central tension is that the resale median price advanced while the ZIP asking-rent index declined over the latest year, yet the resale record also shows meaningful supply and a 53-day marketing period. That prevents either the rent history or the resale price change from resolving the affordability screen on its own. ZORI, ACS gross rent, HUD standards, and Redfin resales each answer different questions and should not be merged into a single property conclusion. Property-level review should verify the exact bedroom count, lease term, included utilities, concessions, listing availability date, and whether a comparable is a rental asking price or a closed resale. For a sale comparison, the recorded property type, condition, list-price history, and closing date also need checking before this ZIP-level evidence is applied to a specific address.
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP Zillow ZORI is $2,901 and declined 2.61% over the latest exact same-month year. That contrasts with annualized gains over the three-year and five-year windows. Low measured monthly-return variability supports confidence in series continuity, but the historical drawdown shows that a current index level should not be treated as a permanent outcome.","title":"Recent rent cooling interrupts a positive longer path"},{"body":"The matched ACS ZCTA reports median gross rent of $2,270 for occupied renter homes, including selected utilities, while current Zillow ZORI is a blended asking-rent index. The difference is material, but it is not a direct measure of concessions, renewal rents, or the price of a specific available apartment because the source universes differ.","title":"Asking rent exceeds the occupied-home survey median"},{"body":"Applying a simple 30% income screen to current ZIP ZORI requires annual income above the matched ACS median household income. Separately, nearly half of ACS renter households report gross-rent burdens at or above 30% of income. These are area-level arithmetic and survey measures, not tenant qualification standards or evidence about an individual household.","title":"Affordability screen and reported burden point in the same direction"},{"body":"Redfin's direct ZIP resale data show a year-over-year median sale-price increase and an average sale-to-list result above list price. At the same time, months of supply, inventory, and marketing time indicate that the resale evidence is not a one-dimensional tightness signal. It remains for-sale evidence, not rental comparable data.","title":"Resale strength is tempered by supply and marketing time"}],"risks":["The current Zillow figure is a blended asking-rent index across rental types, so it may not match the bedroom count, utility treatment, lease term, condition, or concessions attached to any specific available unit.","ACS statistics come from a matched ZCTA five-year survey of occupied homes, and the ZCTA is a statistical area rather than the same thing as a USPS delivery ZIP or a current rental listing market.","Redfin resale observations concern closed for-sale transactions over a rolling three-month window; median price, supply, and sale-to-list measures cannot be used as rental transactions or property-level rental economics.","The HUD-scaled bedroom amounts are modelled estimates based on the ZIP asking-rent index and local administrative ladder, not measured rents for studios, one-bedroom homes, or larger units."],"qa":[{"a":"They measure different universes. Zillow ZORI is a current typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The comparison is useful for scale, but it is not a direct estimate of available-unit rent or lease concessions.","q":"Why does the Zillow asking-rent index differ from ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"The latest exact same-month one-year ZORI movement is negative, while the corresponding three-year and five-year annualized changes remain positive. That means recent direction breaks from the longer positive path. The history metrics are backward-looking measurements, and they do not establish a future rent path or a future rent level.","q":"What does the one-year rent decline mean in the context of the longer history?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom amounts are modelled estimates created by scaling ZIP ZORI through the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent. The resulting figures provide a consistent modelled ladder but do not replace unit-level listings or signed-lease evidence.","q":"Are the bedroom rent amounts direct observations?"},{"a":"Redfin's median sale price is a direct ZIP resale observation from the rolling three-month for-sale market. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by that price is only a cross-source screening ratio. It is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield, and it does not incorporate property-specific rental or transaction evidence.","q":"How should the resale price and rent-to-price screen be interpreted?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html"},{"key":"realtor_county","name":"Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory","release":"county inventory 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-28","url":"https://www.realtor.com/research/data/"},{"key":"redfin","name":"Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts","release":"metro tracker through 2026-05-01","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"redfin_zip","name":"Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply","release":"ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03","pulledAt":"2026-08-12","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"zillow_county","name":"Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents","release":"county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori","name":"Zillow ZORI — metro market rents","release":"Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_city","name":"Zillow ZORI — city market rents","release":"zillow_zori_city.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-29","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_zip","name":"Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents","release":"ZORI ZIP 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2018-01-01","rent":2240.027369},{"period":"2018-02-01","rent":2231.490087},{"period":"2018-03-01","rent":2222.253138},{"period":"2018-04-01","rent":2222.846278},{"period":"2018-05-01","rent":2235.277999},{"period":"2018-06-01","rent":2254.971162},{"period":"2018-07-01","rent":2272.000766},{"period":"2018-08-01","rent":2276.974267},{"period":"2018-09-01","rent":2296.077424},{"period":"2018-10-01","rent":2295.701889},{"period":"2018-11-01","rent":2285.382926},{"period":"2018-12-01","rent":2281.390879},{"period":"2019-01-01","rent":2271.099528},{"period":"2019-02-01","rent":2300.645236},{"period":"2019-03-01","rent":2324.151639},{"period":"2019-04-01","rent":2339.989247},{"period":"2019-05-01","rent":2337.85557},{"period":"2019-06-01","rent":2327.46446},{"period":"2019-07-01","rent":2325.54114},{"period":"2019-08-01","rent":2333.978516},{"period":"2019-09-01","rent":2337.215466},{"period":"2019-10-01","rent":2355.756645},{"period":"2019-11-01","rent":2367.744914},{"period":"2019-12-01","rent":2381.343501},{"period":"2020-01-01","rent":2391.122824},{"period":"2020-02-01","rent":2387.61949},{"period":"2020-03-01","rent":2374.54721},{"period":"2020-04-01","rent":2360.036716},{"period":"2020-05-01","rent":2344.054309},{"period":"2020-06-01","rent":2324.356933},{"period":"2020-07-01","rent":2303.41236},{"period":"2020-08-01","rent":2294.096271},{"period":"2020-09-01","rent":2296.710443},{"period":"2020-10-01","rent":2308.584134},{"period":"2020-11-01","rent":2320.683507},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":2313.710895},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":2309.612962},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":2308.252569},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":2317.484635},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":2330.287064},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":2357.309545},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":2383.627836},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":2414.009785},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":2433.030964},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":2465.243085},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":2501.090846},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":2512.97613},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":2541.231881},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":2546.984076},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":2575.054737},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":2600.062392},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":2624.024129},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":2637.326917},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":2641.080466},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":2663.746207},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":2693.245344},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":2701.460624},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":2688.293246},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":2708.700105},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":2708.424185},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":2729.793937},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":2738.30326},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":2759.045024},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":2765.924047},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":2772.709105},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":2802.545959},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":2822.509812},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":2819.527684},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":2812.872965},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":2809.246138},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":2799.493522},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":2807.729204},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":2828.431861},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":2848.811413},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":2848.369248},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":2864.075908},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":2868.958619},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":2873.71935},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":2883.636183},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":2910.730017},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":2934.587738},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":2944.802777},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":2956.466342},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":2949.330701},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":2942.791699},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":2935.252131},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":2957.819882},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":2979.874988},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":2996.327764},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":2978.880813},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":2973.069789},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":2962.529943},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":2958.693731},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":2966.145656},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":2967.274322},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":2975.335045},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":2970.985866},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":2967.587968},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":2947.088225},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":2920.26457},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":2901.44558},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":2901.235978}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":102,"firstPeriod":"2018-01-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":102,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2978.880813,"endRent":2901.235978,"change":-0.02606510292763431,"cagr":-0.02606510292763431},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2802.545959,"endRent":2901.235978,"change":0.035214415907460994,"cagr":0.011602988590670105},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":2383.627836,"endRent":2901.235978,"change":0.21715140853053883,"cagr":0.04008521106146623}},"maxDrawdown":-0.0405778206063413,"annualizedVolatility":0.01976579870239976,"consecutiveReturnCount":101}}