Recently, in preparing to leave Palm Springs for a brief vacation in Canada, I stopped by my local  bank to buy some CAD.  As I paid $438.91 US for $415.00 CA, it was again made clear to me what an advantage this strong currency offers a Canadian buyer each time the Loonie reaches parity with our Greenback. Yes, bank transaction fees drove up my costs a little, but still it’s clear that for Canadians buying a home in Palm Springs, the strong Loonie buys them more than what you get with the US dollar.

I blogged last October 2011 about Canadians buying a home in Palm Springs, stating that the Canadian dollar was again over parity with the US dollar. Since then, the Loonie has had quite a ride; it hit a low of 96 cents against the USD on May 12, 2012 and has been generally rising since then.  The Loonie crossed parity again on August 5, 2012 and so far hasn’t fallen back, closing at $1.03 today, September 11, 2012. According to Reuters, “the Canadian dollar spiked to a 13 month high against the US dollar” today.

Palm Springs for Canadians

The Palm Springs real estate market, as far as pricing is concerned, is much as it was last year with prices still at about 2003 levels. The one noticeable difference is that inventories in many locations are down significantly. In fact, the total valley wide inventory of all unsold properties last month was down about 40%, just since last October.

So, if you’re considering being amongst those Canadians buying a home in Palm Springs as your getaway for the snowy winter months, this might be the year to do it. There was a larger selection of homes last season, but with our low prices, it’s still a buyers’ market. Here’s the caveat – unless our inventory increases substantially in the next few months, we might be saying good-bye to the buyers’ market enjoyed since 2006/07 and begin seeing a sellers’ market which would mean higher prices on the horizon. Those buying Palm Springs real estate now will find our prices are still low. The unsold inventory is shrinking, but prices are still at reasonable levels, and importantly for Canadians – the Loonie is strong against the US dollar. I encourage you to take advantage of the Loonie’s current strength and buy this season.  Remember, timing really is everything.