The Desert Sun’s Rosalie Murphy writes that Coachella Valley home prices and sales rose year over year in October, the third-consecutive month of increases, according to data from real estate research firm CoreLogic DataQuick. According to CoreLogic DataQuick, there were 754 sales in October (up 1.2 percent over October 2015) at a median price of $300,000 (up 3.8 percent over October 2015). Coachella Valley homes sold for a median price of $167 per square foot in October, up less than one percent year over year. Per-square-foot prices ranged from $109 in Desert Hot Springs to $228 in Palm Springs. Homes in Palm Springs now routinely sell for more than homes in Indian Wells on a per-square-foot basis.

The California Desert Association of Realtors counted 2,614 single-family homes and 1,729 condos on the market in October, a slight dip from September. If homes continued to sell at their October rate, it would take between five and six months to sell all the homes on the market — generally considered a healthy level of inventory. According to California Desert Association of Realtors president Judy Horn, “Currently, it is a good time to be a seller. If past performance is any indication of the future performance, we should continue to expect slowly rising prices and upward numbers of sold units to continue to accelerate from this point to at least spring 2017."

On a state-wide level, according to the California Association of Realtors, 442,970 homes were sold in October, an 8 percent jump from October 2015. Homes sold for a median price of $513,520, up 7.3 percent from October 2015. State industry leaders continued to warn that tight markets on the state's coasts are pushing buyers inland and pulling up prices at the low end of the market, making it ever harder for first-time homebuyers to enter the market or for income-restricted owners to move.

By The Numbers, Desert Home Sales In October 2016:

  • Total sales: 754, up 1.2 percent from October 2015
  • New construction sales: 38, down 44.1  percent from 2015
  • Resale single-family home sales: 514, up 7.3 percent from 2015
  • Resale condo sales: 202, up 2 percent from 2015
  • Median price: $300,000, up 3.8 percent from 2015
  • Median price per square foot: $167, up 0.9 percent from 2015

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick

To read Rosalie Murphy’s original article, courtesy of The Desert Sun, please visit: http://www.desertsun.com/story/money/real-estate/2016/11/22/home-sales-california-desert-october/94024128/