Featured image credit: Junkyardsparkle
It’s taking every bit of our control to not let this grow into a colossal blog, but we never run short of good things to say about Burbank. It’s why JohnHart chose it as the site of our biggest office yet, the JohnHart Village. A good portion of our staff and real estate agents call Burbank home, so you could say we vouch for it as a fulfilling place to live. But it’s also so many different things to so many people. It’s why there’s often such steep competition for Burbank homes for sale. Is a Burbank home in your future? Get to know this singular city before you start your hunt!
The Often Beautiful Boundaries of Burbank
Burbank is its own municipality, boasting an estimated 103,533 residents as of July 1, 2024, according to the U.S. Census. It’s a city that can be subdivided into the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains (where you’ll find Downtown Burbank) and the flatland portion. Head east and you’ll hit Glendale. West and you’ll pass into Toluca Lake and North Hollywood. Otherwise, Burbank is locked in by natural land with Griffith Park to the south and the Verdugos to the north. It makes for some truly breathtaking vistas.
Seeking Safety in Burbank
Safety is always a chief concern when moving into a new neighborhood, so the statistics will likely only further fuel your interest in Burbank homes for sale. That’s because Burbank boasts a violent crime rate that’s about 30% lower than the national average. According to the city ranking database Niche, Burbank came in as one of the top 15 “safest cities in America” in 2018.
More recently, Burbank got a significant safety boost when it earned the 2025 Safer Cities Award as determined by the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC). The reason? The city passed an ordinance requiring seismic retrofits for qualifying wood-frame soft-story residential buildings that went into effect on January 10. While preparations are largely still underway, the city’s commitment to seismic safety adds further demand to the rental market and could even drive up competition for Burbank homes for sale as more people turn their eyes on the community.
Get to Know the City’s School District
The quality of area schools presents another vital consideration when shopping for Burbank homes for sale. The city has its own unified school district, generally regarded as one of the top in not just California but the entire nation when it comes to test scores. You’ll also find two California Distinguished Schools in the city: Luther Burbank Middle School and David Starr Jordan Middle School.
Burbank’s Leading Industries
Burbank’s storied past in the aviation industry is evident in traces all around the city: from the ornate Portal of the Folded Wings in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery to the model airplanes decorating the signage for the sprawling Empire Center mall, once the grounds of Lockheed’s mysterious “Skunk Works.” The city’s relationship with aviation really hit its stride in the 1930s when the LA area’s first major airport was built in Burbank. When World War II embroiled the globe in conflict, Burbank’s factories and warehouses sprang into action and kept moving at full speed even after the conflict’s conclusion.
Meanwhile, the entertainment industry was hitting new heights in Los Angeles with several prominent studios planting their roots firmly in Burbank soil. Most of these studios ended up as neighbors in what would be deemed the Media District, alternately referred to as the Media Center. Production companies, studios, and other entertainment companies that remain in Burbank today include:
- ABC
- Cartoon Network
- The CW
- Legendary Pictures
- Nickelodeon Animation Studios
- The Walt Disney Company
- Warner Bros.
- Warner Music Group
Roughly 150,000 people work in Burbank (around 50,000 more than actually reside there). Per the 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the city’s top three employers are Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, and Hollywood Burbank Airport (formerly Bob Hope Airport), which, by 2010, was accommodating 4.5 million passengers every year. The airport’s convenience, compared to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), inspired the saying “Real friends fly out of Burbank.”
Getting Around the City
With so many people commuting into Burbank every day, a robust network of freeways and commuting options is obviously necessary. Burbank enjoys convenient access to a series of freeways, including:
- The Foothill Freeway (I-210)
- The Golden State Freeway (I-5)
- The Ventura Freeway (SR 134)
Going without a car in Burbank is a challenge… but not impossible. The Los Angeles Metro provides bus lines that serve the Burbank area. While the Metro train line doesn’t extend to the city, Burbank commuters can also rely on Amtrak and Metrolink lines to get to other portions of the LA area. Burbank also has its own dedicated Burbank Bus system. And, of course, over 70 flights are departing Hollywood Burbank Airport every day.
Shopping Options from the Classic to the Unique
You’ll never run short on shopping options in a city like Burbank. Between the sprawling Empire Center and the Burbank Town Center mall, it almost feels as though every major brand is represented. You’ll even find the country’s largest IKEA, a hulking 456,000 square foot behemoth near the corner of San Fernando and Alameda. But if you’d like one-of-a-kind purchases in smaller, boutique environs, Burbank also offers unique shopping opportunities like the Magnolia Park strip, which hosts gift shops, thrift stores, fashions, and novelties amidst cafes and restaurants.
The Pioneering Smoking Ban
Before you begin your search for Burbank homes for sale, you should also familiarize yourself with the city’s stance on smoking. Since 2007, the city has outlawed smoking on sidewalks, areas with pedestrian access, city buildings, and downtown properties. Less relevant to prospective homeowners but still worth noting, another law went into effect in 2011 banning smoking in multi-family units with shared ventilation, extending to private balconies and patios.
Staying Entertained
From arts and culture to parks packed with amenities, there’s never a shortage of things to do in this city. You can catch live performances at the Starlight Bowl, an intimate amphitheatre punctuating Stough Canyon Park. If comedy is more your scene, Flappers Comedy Club in Downtown Burbank hosts up-and-coming comics on its classic brick-backed stage. Tour classic horror movie props in the interactive Mystic Museum on Magnolia Boulevard (and maybe get your fortune read on the way out). These are just a few examples of the diverse culture and color that attracts so many to seek Burbank homes for sale.
The High Competition for Burbank Homes for Sale
We can use absorption rate statistics to gauge the competition in the Burbank market. Since August 2022, we’ve been publishing our absorption rates for Burbank, which typically indicate a market that favors the buyer at an absorption rate of 15% (or below) or a market that favors the seller at 18% absorption rate (or higher).
These statistics are more guides than rules, but the lowest Burbank has gone since we started publishing these statistics is 26%. That was back in January 2024. Burbank’s record high was 54% in June 2023. No matter how much stock you put in absorption rates, one thing remains clear: there’s plenty of competition for Burbank homes for sale. Fortunately, Burbank is a market in which our talented agents excel. If you’ve been dreaming of calling Burbank home, then reach out to one of our agents and start planning your route to success!
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
