Local real estate market experts, Market Watch LLC, have just released their April 2018 Desert Housing Report. Some of the highlights include:
The Coachella Valley’s median detached home price in April was $406,000, compared with $389,000 in April 2017 (a 4.4%, twelve month increase) and $392,000 in March 2018.
The Coachella Valley’s median attached home price in April was $274,500, compared with $250,000 in April 2017 (a 9.8%, twelve month increase) and $269,000 in March 2018.
In looking at April’s median detached home prices by city, Cathedral City’s median detached home price increased 15.6% year-over-year, Palm Springs’s median detached home price increased 12.7% year-over-year and Palm Desert’s median detached home price increased by 11.8% year-over-year. Palm Springs’ April median detached home price of $656,100 is now 9.3% above the all-time high made in 2006. While it is the only Coachella Valley city that has surpassed its 2006 high, Indio, Cathedral City and Palm Desert are rapidly approaching theirs. In looking at April’s median attached home prices by city, Cathedral City’s median attached home price increased by 37% year-over-year, Desert Hot Springs’ median attached home price increased by 36% year-over-year and Indio’s median attached home price increased by 28.8% year-over-year.
Total Coachella Valley home sales, using a 12 month moving average, have gone from 780 units a month a year ago to 847 units a month in April (an increase of 8.6% year-over-year and the highest level of monthly sales in 5 years). Detached home sales were higher by 6.4% and attached home sales were higher by 12.7%.
In looking at home sales per month by city, Bermuda Dunes, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs and Palm Desert were the five Coachella Valley cities showing the greatest increase in monthly home sales. Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Indio and La Quinta had about the same monthly home sales as last year and Palm Springs showed a slight decrease.
Home sales by price range showed higher sales in all price brackets over $300k (except for homes priced from $500k to $600k which Market Watch felt resulted from a statistical anomaly). Even sales of million dollar homes increased significantly. Market Watch noted that in April 2015, there were 48 million dollar home sales, compared to 77 home sales in April 2018.
On May 1st, the Coachella Valley home inventory stood at 3,622 units, which is 870 units less than last year and 1,876 less than two years ago. Market Watch noted that this shrinking inventory is one half of the equation that’s been driving home prices higher.
The May 1st months of supply ratio was 4.3 months, the lowest May 1st ratio since 2013. Days on the Market (DOM) for April was 64 days, which is the lowest number of days on the Market for April in the last five years.
Months of supply by price range was below 6 months in all price brackets. Two years ago, most months of supply ratios were over 10 months and in the highest two price brackets ($900K-$1M and greater than $1M) on May 1st 2016, the months of supply ratios stood at almost 24 months.
In looking at months of supply by city, every city except Indian Wells had a months of supply ratio under six months, with five of the Coachella Valley’s cities having a months of supply ratio under four months. Market Watch felt that this showed the housing market is visually strengthening throughout the entire Coachella Valley and not just in certain sectors or cities.
The Desert Housing Report is produced for Coachella Valley real estate agents through the sponsorship and cooperation of the Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors® (PSRAR) and the California Desert Association of Realtors® (CDAR) by Market Watch LLC.