Palm Springs Area Real Estate - Low supply of inventory working in favor of some sellers and new home builders.

What's happening in Palm Springs area real estate? Seems like we might be seeing some positive signs and moving more towards a "normal" real estate market; a positive change at least for sellers and new home builders in the Coachella Valley. 

The Coachella Valley has reached a low supply of inventory of homes working in favor of some sellers and new home builders. Inventories of resale homes in the Coachella Valley have dropped to a 3.9 month supply, the lowest level in many years.  

What's happening? Is the economy getting better? A panel of experts at last week's Desert Valleys Building Association economic update meeting declared "housing the best bet for new growth." For Riverside & San Bernardino counties, construction jobs peaked in 2006 at 127,500 jobs, which now stands at a mere 56,100 jobs five years later. 

What we are seeing here in the Coachella Valley and the Palm Springs area are developers buying up residential lots at stalled or foreclosed housing projects that have sat over the last few years. With inventories declining in communities priced below $200,000, we will probably see more new homes being built in the next year or two.

Projects recently purchased and in the works are:

La Entrada - 2200 acres south of I-10 and east of the All-American Canal near Coachella was recently purchased by one developer. The area was previously slated for 9000 new homes.  

Alta - Toll Brothers has purchased this project in Palm Springs, as well as lots in Rancho Mirage.

Griffin Ranch - Toll Brothers has partnered with another developer, Oak Tree, in finishing Griffin Ranch, an equestrian community in La Quinta.

Villa Portafino - Family Development has been purchasing up stalled projects throughout the valley. Villa Protafino is a 55+ community of condos in Palm Desert.

Escena - A Beverly Hills developer, the Alta Verde Group, acquired this development in Palm Springs.

Other promising projects in the Coachella Valley include the $434 million renovation at College of the Desert and its satellite campuses. The University of California Riverside desert extension is also promising to bring in a freshman class to start a full 4 year program available in the desert for the first time. In retail projects, a national retailer is expected to take over the recently vacated Borders location at The River in Rancho Mirage.

The Desert Valleys Building Association panel concluded with suggestions that new home construction could double by next year, accounting for about 14 - 15 percent of home sales.

Do you have more questions on the Palm Springs and surrounding Coachella Valley? For more information on the real estate market in the Palm Springs area, please feel free to contact me.

Source: The Desert Sun, The Valley Economy: Construction. Panel: Housing the best bet for new growth. 4/13/12 

 Palm Springs Single Family Homes l Palm Springs Short Sales l Palm Springs Foreclosures