Coachella Valley real estate sales up 19%

Debra Gruszecki • The Desert Sun • April 5, 2009
Real estate sales were in the triple-digits in February across areas hit hard by foreclosure and unemployment in 2008, but the median price for Coachella Valley homes held pat at $180,000 for two consecutive months, according to new figures from MDA DataQuick.
Median prices have trended down since the recession began in late 2007.
All told, DataQuick noted 723 sales in February. That represents a 19 percent increase over the year before when atypical foreclosure activity began and the economy hit the skids. Bargain-basement buying activity in February was hottest in: Coachella, where the sale of 52 homes represented an increase in 478 percent over the same time last year. Desert Hot Springs, where 102 transactions in the 92240 ZIP code area represented a sales volume increase of 292 percent and had the largest volume of sales. The median price paid there: $80,250. The highest priced home: $260,000. Other locales noting sales gains of 100 percent or more were Bermuda Dunes, Cathedral City and Thousand Palms.
Statistics also showed double-digit sales decreases in February in Indian Wells, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage. The median price in Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage dropped 77 percent and 48 percent, respectively, to $340,000 — primarily due to the rise in condo sales there. The $340,000 price was about what a small condo in a great location could fetch valley-wide in February 2006, when the economy was steaming. Anecdotally, real estate agents are saying resale supply in the lower-priced categories is being scooped up at a rapid pace, and that foreclosure resales account for more than 56 percent of February's resale activity.Trend could be a good sign here. Greg Berkemer, executive director of the California Desert Association of Realtors, has pointed out that buyers are taking advantage of the affordable home prices in increasing numbers.
The valley has seen year-over-year sales increases for several consecutive months, he has pointed out. If that trend continues, it could signal a turn in the market and a bottom on prices.

Across Southern California, sales have been rising on a year-to-year basis since last July.
The California Association of Realtors has reported that existing home sales rose 83 percent across the state in February, compared with the same period a year ago while the median price of an existing home declined 40.8 percent. The data does not track new construction or the sale of homes not listed on the MLS. The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home on the MLS was 51.5 days in February, compared with 69 days a year ago. Statewide, the cities with the highest median home prices in California ranged from Santa Barbara, $897,500, to Fountain Valley, $542,000. No one city in the Coachella Valley had a median home price greater than $340,000 in February, according to DataQuick. However, five cities reported million-dollar sales: Indian Wells, with a $2.1 million home; La Quinta, $2.4 million; Palm Desert, $1.1 million; Palm Springs, $2 million; and Rancho Mirage, $2.5 million. DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiller and Associates, which monitors real estate activity nationwide, also noted that the typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,090 last month, down from a revised $1,940 for February one year ago.
That rate makes the typical mortgage payment less than rent in some cases.
http://www.m1properties.com/

Forbes Magazine says - buy a home before the economy recovers

Ten Things To Buy Before The Economy Improves:
Daniel Indiviglio, 03.31.09, Forbes Magazine
The deals you're seeing on everything from houses and cars to televisions and furniture won't last forever. The reason is simple: no buyers (to compete with).
Personal savings in 2008 were nearly six times greater than in 2005, amounting to $191 billion or 1.8% of the nation's disposable income. In 2009, annualized savings for January and February exceeded $450 billion, or more than 4% of disposable income.
For those feeling bold enough to bargain shop, opportunities abound. Some deals, like housing and automobiles, might be obvious, but others, like diamonds, might not be.
Big Ticket Items At the top of the list: 1.) Housing. This may be the best time in a generation to buy a home. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, fourth-quarter 2008 prices were down 25% from the four quarter of 2006. The stimulus bill Congress passed in February includes an $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers. According to bankrate.com, average interest rates are beginning to dip below 5% for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.
Let M1 Properties help you secure the best big ticket item to buy before the economy recovers further.