According to Rosalie Murphy in this Desert Sun article, last year was a steady one for the desert housing market.   Some highlights:

  • Median prices hovered around $290,000 each month of 2015, according to data from real estate research firm CoreLogic DataQuick. Homes fetched a median price of $295,000 in December, according to CoreLogic DataQuick numbers. Median prices this year have ranged from $275,000 in July and August to $300,000 in February and April;
  • Sales increased year-over-year in six of the last seven months, recovering from a slightly slower spring. Overall, more than 6,300 existing single-family homes changed hands in 2015, along with more than 3,000 condos;
  • New construction continued its slow climb back toward normalcy. According to CoreLogic DataQuick, 763 new homes sold in 2015, just 7.5 percent of the 10,142 homes that changed hands. A good, reliable, sustainable number of new home product coming into the market would be 1,000 to 1,200, according to Gretchen Gutierrez, CEO of the Desert Valley Builders Association;
  • Gutierrez said about 720 new Coachella Valley homes were approved for building permits in the first 11 months of 2015. While the metric isn't an exact measure of how many new homes get built, it suggests that new houses and condos are selling with relative ease;
  • Nationally, Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, described 2015 as 'the housing market's best year in nearly a decade," in a recent statement. About 5.26 million homes sold in 2015 at a median price of 221,200; and
  • Across Southern California, sales rose 8.1 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to CoreLogic DataQuick. Homes sold for a median price of $443,000 across Southern California, the highest since October 2007. Prices ranged from $272,000 in San Bernardino County to $630,000 in Orange County.

Desert home sales in 2015:

  • Total sales: 10,142
  • New construction sales: 763
  • Resale single family homes: 6,346
  • Resale condos: 3,027
  • Median price: $291,000
  • High price: $8.6 million in Palm Desert
  • Median price per square foot: $167.50

Desert home sales in December 2015:

  • Total sales: 672, up 2.1 percent from 2014
  • New construction sales: 46, down 37.8 percent from 2014
  • Resale single family homes: 403, up 1 percent from 2014
  • Resale condos: 223, up 20.5 percent from 2014
  • Median price: $289,000, down 2 percent from 2014
  • Median price per square foot: $167, down 2.5 percent from 2014

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick

Please use the following link to read the article, courtesy of The Desert Sun: http://www.desertsun.com/story/money/real-estate/2016/01/19/corelogic-dataquick-home-prices-2015/78794210/