What a very strange month we have been having in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.
The weather has been more humid than normal for July in the Desert, and it has been extremely uncomfortable.
In mid-July, we had a freak thunderstorm that hit the valley. The thunder was loud & ominous and there were a few instances of lightning. The next morning, over 1" of rain fell in one hour on Palm Springs, which caused some major flooding in the city.
The following week, there was a 5.4 earthquake that hit the Chino Hills area of Southern California, and the shaking was felt in Palm Springs.
And top of this is the constant buzzing of the locust, or cicadas, that have inundated the town. With all of these occurrences happening, one would think that the "plagues of Egypt" have fallen upon us here in Palm Springs.
Even if the other "plagues" did show up here, it wouldn't have stopped the real estate market during the month of July.
Here's a breakdown on the Real Estate activity during month of July:
- 98 homes & condos sold, with a median price of $402,849
- 180 new listings on the market
- Average days on market was 163 days
- Average % of List Price to Sales Price was 94.7%
The number of pending sales was up once again for the month of July. Pending sale are properties that are currently in escrow, where all of the contractual contingencies have been removed and the sale of these homes are likely to go through. Currently, there are 64 pending sales for the month of July, which is up from the June 2008 total of 40 homes.
According to the Desert Area MLS, there are currently 1255 homes & condos on the market in the city of Palm Springs. Of the 1255 homes available, 194 of them are currently in escrow.
What does all of these statistics mean? It means that there is a 13 month supply of homes available for buyers to purchase in Palm Springs, and prices will continue to adjust as home sellers are realizing they need to aggresively price their homes in order to sell, which is reflected in a higher average percentage of list price to sales price.
In a nutshell, it's a great time to buy a home in Palm Springs.
See you next month for the August 2008 Palm Springs Real Estate Market Report, and watch out for the locust!!!
Photo courtesy of Flickr
About the Author:
Harold Watts of Lyle Realtors has been a REALTOR in Palm Springs since 1999. Focusing on the 2nd & Vacation home market, Harold has been helping Real Estate Buyers and Sellers achieve their real estate goals. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Palm Springs or anywhere in the Coachella Valley, give Harold Watts a call at 760-778-6200 or email him at Harold@LyleRealtors.com
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Wow Harold, You have had a summer to remember. I moved away from the desert a year ago to TN, but miss it some of the time. PS is beautiful. But even with rain, earthquakes and locust it's always a great time to buy in Palm Springs. Hang in the market will correct itself.