The new year is briskly underway here in the Coachella Valley (La Quinta, Palm Springs, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert) and recent real estate sales reflect both bank-owned foreclosures and non-distress bargains.
The valley is hopping! The Kennel Club of Palm Springs just wrapped up its annual four-day event on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club in Indio. More than 3,000 dogs in 170 breeds competed in the nation's largest all-breed competition. An Irish Setter named Shadagee Caught Red-Handed—or Emily for short—took home the Best in Show ribbon. The weather held up its end with 70° temps to kick-start an event-studded January.
The 21st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival commenced January 5 and is now in full swing for its two-week duration at five venues scattered throughout downtown. There will be 450 screenings of 190 films from over 70 countries. The Last Station, starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer, was the gala-night film, while The Lightkeepers, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner, will bookmark the series end Sunday evening. Best of the Fest films will then be screened all day Monday, January 18.
The 2010 awards season started right here in the desert at the festival, with Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Jeff Bridges and director Jason Reitman among those honored the first night. Mariah Carey, acknowledged for her distinctive role in Precious, gave her loopy, much disseminated acceptance speech at the Awards Gala.
Rounding out the first-month-of-the-year's events will be The Bob Hope Classic, January 18-24. The venerable Pro-Am event will be held on four La Quinta courses over five days—PGA West's Nicklaus Private and Palmer Private, La Quinta Country Club, and SilverRock. Last year, eight holes-in-one set an event record, all of them occurring on either the Nicklaus or Palmer courses.
January is prime hiking season in our trail-rich Coachella Valley. There are hiking trails strewn along the mountains from Palm Springs to Mecca, including explorations of Joshua Tree National Park, just a short drive from La Quinta. Here are some shots taken last week during an arduous pre-dawn hike up Bear Creek Canyon Ridge, a 2,000-foot vertical ascent up into the Santa Rosa Mountains above La Quinta. The views were spectacular and the Salton Sea was visible from the top.
We're in high season on the real-estate front as well. The valley is packed with Canadian snowbirds as well as visitors from the northwest and myriad other winter states. There appears to be pent-up demand for home buying and my Windermere La Quinta office routinely does $3M to $6M in sales each week. Last week's tally was $4.8M with sales spanning the price spectrum.
Hidden Canyon, an enclave of 169 luxury homes nestled in the shadows of the Santa Rosa Mountains (and one of my favorite La Quinta 
communities), had seven sales in December, three of them non-distress sales in the $900 to $950K range. The remainder were REOS or short sales, all snapped up by savvy buyers. There are now only 13 active listings, half the amount on the market from last year, with an average asking price of $807K. (Average sales price for the past six months is $730K). Only two are short sales with just one accepting back-up offers.
There is one clear bargain remaining and I have written about it in an earlier blog. I predict that it will be sold before the month is over to a discerning buyer—78019 Red Hawk Lane
In reviewing the homes appearing daily on the market and those that have closed escrow, I see that higher-end communities and country clubs have dropped a solid 25% from their 2006 highs. Lower-end homes, i.e. those under $200K, realized a cool 50% reduction in value and the few that do wend their way to the market now are quickly snapped up by cash-waving investors in multiple-bid offers, a situation that has been in effect since last summer.
However, I see that submitting aggressive offers on higher priced homes (already significantly reduced) is common and often successful. Here are some examples of La Quinta country club sales within the past two weeks that reflect this phenomenon:
1. The Citrus
Original price $995K reduced to $830K. Accepted $740K (26% reduction)
2. The Hideaway
Original price $4.799M reduced to $3.975M. Accepted $3.630M (23.5% reduction)
3. The Tradition
Bank-owned property. Original price $1.849M reduced to $1.6M. Accepted $1.425M. (23% reduction)
4. Rancho La Quinta CC
Original price $1.6M reduced to $1.15M. Accepted $1.075M (33% reduction)
5. Rancho La Quinta CC
Original price $1.05M reduced to $775M. Accepted $720K (31% reduction)
6. La Quinta Fairways
Original price $775K reduced to $650K. Accepted $600K (22.5% reduction)
7. The Hideway
Original price $2.8M reduced to $1.395M. Accepted $1.4M (50% reduction)
Please contact me if you'd like my assistance in finding your own bargain here in our beautiful desert.
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