The Desert Sun’s Rosalie Murphy writes that new home sales in the Coachella Valley struggled in 2016, with a total of 561 new homes sold, down 26.5% from the 763 new homes sold in 2015, according to data from real estate research firm CoreLogic DataQuick. 

However, looking at 2016 as a whole, the good news is that resales of single family homes and condos made up for weakness in the new home market, with 10,345 sales recorded in the desert in 2016, up about 2 percent from the previous year. Sales of existing single-family homes rose to 6,681 in 2016, about a 5 percent increase from 2015. And 3,103 existing condos changed hands, a rise of about 2.5 percent year over year, according to CoreLogicDataQuick. The median price for a Coachella Valley home was just under $300,000, or $171 per square foot, in 2016. Prices have been largely steady for the last two years except for normal seasonal fluctuations where prices tend to fall in summer and fall and rise in winter and spring, during the "season" when the desert's snowbirds return. 

In December 2016, sales fell year over year in all categories, with a total of 809 sales recorded, down 14.5 percent year over year. On the bright side, these sales were at a median price of #301,000, up 2% year over year, according to CoreLogic DataQuick. For December, resale single-family home sales dropped 8.4%, condo sales dropped 18.8% and new construction sales dropped 41.6%.  The bottom line according to Diana Bernardi, president of the California Desert Association of Realtors® (CDAR), is that “Coachella Valley home prices end the year on a high note and while sales were moderate in December, the housing market posted a solid performance in 2016.  Consumers seem more comfortable with the market and are moving forward with their plans to purchase real estate.” The Coachella Valley had 5,342 houses and condos for sale in December, according to the CDAR, more than six months of inventory, if homes continue to sell at their December pace. 

Coachella Valley homes sold for a median price of $173 per square foot in December, up 4.5 percent year over year. Those prices ranged from $113 in Desert Hot Springs' 92240 ZIP code and $125 in its 92241 ZIP code to $254 in Palm Springs' 92264 ZIP code and $223 in Indian Wells.For comparison, prices per square foot in California ranged from $130 per square foot in Kern County to $808 per square foot in San Francisco County. Across California, home sales fell by less than one percent year over year in December. The state's median price rose to $509,060, up 3.9 percent year over year, according to the California Association of Realtors® (CAR). Statewide, there were just 2.6 months of inventory on the market in December, even less than the 2.8 months of inventory on the market in December 2015; real estate agents generally say a healthy market should have four to six months of inventory available. Statewide, annual sales totals rose about 1.7 percent from 2015 to 2016, close to the pace at which Coachella Valley sales accelerated. 

December 2016 Desert Home Sales At A Glance:

  • Total sales: 809, down 14.5 percent from December 2015
  • New construction sales: 52, down 41.6 percent from 2015
  • Resale single-family home sales: 537, down 8.4 percent from 2015
  • Resale condo sales: 220, down 18.8 percent from 2015
  • Median price: $301,000, up 2 percent from 2015
  • Median price per square foot: $173, up 4.5 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/2017/01/25/coachella-valley-home-sales-december/96858172/