Today, with the launch of our new website, I’m offering a perspective of local Palm Springs real estate market trends here in the greater Palm Springs area. As I’ve commented before, “local” market trends are really the only relevant market information for any buyer or seller of real estate. Pricing trends for the country, other states, or even out of region communities are of little value in your Palm Springs real estate buying or selling decision. Do you really care about what is happening in LA or Phoenix?
A recent article in Forbes trumpeted Housing Market Turns Corner, the data being drawn from a second quarter analysis by Zillow. The Zillow HVI (Home Value Index) was based an average of 167 metro areas throughout the country. It showed the price of the average home in the US as $149,300, an increase of 2.1% from first to second quarter in 2012, hence the headline. So again, I ask so what? The HVI may be an interesting trend to a casual observer of the national real estate market, but it does not help you with decisions on buying and/or selling in Palm Springs. My goal is to offer regular Palm Springs real estate market trend updates here to rectify that.
To start, let’s go back to my blog on October 27, 2011 about inventory trends. A look at our local valley real estate market then showed a shrinking inventory of unsold single family homes and condos. At that time, the total valley inventory of homes and condos had shrunk 22% in one year from September 2010 to October 2011 to the level of about 4418 total units. Presently as of the end of June 2012, the inventory is down further to 3177 unsold properties, which is a total reduction of about 42% since September 2010. Of course, as inventory in the valley goes down, you’d expect that average prices would trend up. Well, that is exactly what is happening. The average price per sq. ft. in the valley is now up about 14% from prices in September of 2010.
But again, if you are looking for price trends in a specific community, let’s say Twin Palms, that data is of marginal value. Even though it’s local, it’s not unique to Twin Palms. So it’s not helpful to your needs. If you research the trend in Twin Palms, you will find that the June 2012 inventory is down 75% from September 2010 and down 50% from September just last year. As you would expect with a reduction in inventory that significant, the average prices as a result have gone up almost 27% in 2 years to $308 per sq. ft., since September 2010. Now this is relevant information because it’s focused locally, in this case, on our example neighborhood of Twin Palms.
So, I invite you to watch this space for periodic updates. I’ll be identifying the emerging trends that are relevant to our Palm Springs Real Estate market. If you are planning to buy or sell in Palm Springs and have a specific question relating to local market trends, drop me a line. We’ll be glad to help you. You can email me at dick@dicksakowicz.com or call direct at 760 861-0952.