MOVE-IN READY: Perfect for Vacationing or Year-Round Living
SOLD IN 1 DAY — 81605 Avenida De Baile
Charming Canterra model with sunny open floorplan. Enjoy the great Sun City Shadow Hills lifestyle in this easy-care home. Relax on the expanded, covered, private patio or in the spacious great room. There’s a well-equipped kitchen and master and guest suites are nicely separated. This perfect home is partly turnkey furnished, so bring your beds and move in and enjoy the many amenities offered at this award-winning community all for low dues (golf is highly discounted for owners). 2BD/2BA | 1,257 SF. Offered @ $425,000. Sold @ $425,000.
NEW LISTING: Move-In Ready at Sun City Shadow Hills
https://bonnieandhanksteele.com/PropertyDetails.asp?mlnum=219080125
PALM SPRINGS AREA HOME PRICES STILL RISING AS SALES NEAR PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS
Home Prices Continue Rising
Home prices continued higher in May, according to The Desert Housing Report prepared by Market Watch. At the end of month, the median price of a detached home in the greater Palm Springs area was $700,000, up $30,000 from last month and 21% year-over-year.
“Next month,, seasonal factors should begin to slow price gains but the forces that have been driving prices higher – low inventory and high demand – continue to dominate the market,” says the report.
12-Month Change in Price of Average Size Home
Year-over-year gains in detached homes range from 39% in Palm Springs to 23% in Cathedral City. In the attached home market, six cities have gains over 40% — Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Mirage, Indio, Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Palm Desert.
The chart below shows the size of the average home in each of the area’s cities, followed by the price per square foot and the price.
Year-Over-Year Home Sales Down
The 12-month average, which takes out all seasonality, shows total sales in May averaged 918 units a month, which is 17% below last year. Sales of detached homes are down 16%, while attached home sales are off 18%.
The report says that long-term sales probably will move down over the next 12 months to the pre-pandemic average of 800 units a month.
Sales’ Pace Still Faster Than Last Year
At the end of May, the median number of “days in the market” throughout the Coachella Valley was 20 days, which is one day less than last month and 10 days less than last year.
Low inventory continues to keep selling times near current, low levels. With inventory rising and sales contracting, Market Watch anticipates that this metric will stop declining and remain around 20 to 25 days.
Area Inventory Increases
On June 1, area inventory was 1,179 units, which is 498 units more than last year. The report points out that this is the first meaningful increase in inventory in three years.
“What is particularly significant is that it’s occurring during the seasonal period when inventory normally contracts,” says the report. “We believe it will be very important to watch these levels over the next four months. If inventory can maintain the current numbers as we move into summer, we will be positioned to see even higher numbers as we move towards winter.”
58% of Homes Selling Above List Price
At the end of May, 58% of homes sold in the area sold above their list price compared to 39% a year ago.
The number keeps rising and is currently the highest percent in history because there are multiple bidders per home.
The report predicts that this “metric will stop increasing as we move into the summer months.”
A JEFFERSON STREET JOURNEY: La Quinta to Indio — Part II
Las Palmas, a large resort consisting of manufactured homes at Avenue 48, came into view and we began talking about stopping at Shields Date Farm for a date shake. The 17-acre date farm has been on the corner of Jefferson and Highway 111 since 1924. The café and a walk through the gardens are worth the trip. Also, don’t miss the show about “The Romance and Sex Life of the Date” — suitable for family viewing — in the Romance Theatre. Seriously, check it out. Fortified with one date shake for the two of us, we drove on. (Such delicious, thick yumminess, ask for a spoon.)
Back on Jefferson, the Little San Bernardino Mountains, or Shadow Hills as they’re called, were in our view ahead to the north. Aptly named, in the morning and evening, the sun casts sharply defined shadows across the crevices and gullies of the tans, browns and pinks of the mountains.
After the Indian Springs Golf Club, the 55+ Heritage Palms resort and the Bermuda Dunes Golf Club, there was more open sandy land on either side of the street as we approached Avenue 42. An Arco gas station, a Sonic drive-in and a Del Taco are clustered at the intersection and we stopped for gas. While gassing up, Hank admired the sleek private jets as they glided down over Jefferson Street on their final approach to Bermuda Dunes Airport. Fortunately for all of us, Hank’s days as a pilot are long past.
The light changed and curving up and over Interstate 10 and the double train tracks, we continued. A couple of blocks farther past open scrubland brought us to Sun City Shadow Hills, another 55+ golf community. On our left was an RV park and then more sand dunes.
Several blocks on to the north we passed the recently built Shadow Hills High School football stadium and classroom buildings. On our right were bungalows and small ranch houses, behind which were brown, weedy fields awaiting one of their seasonal crop plantings of kale or artichokes.
Soon after passing a palm tree farm, we came to the end of Jefferson Street at the entrance to Talavera, an inter-generational housing development with a big white and red sign proclaiming new homes for sale in the $500,000 range.
Turning toward our Sun City Shadow Hills’ home, we talked about what we had seen during our nine-mile trip. We realized that we had passed homes ranging from the low $300,000s to $7 million+, and no less than 13 public and private golf courses.
From the lush undulating California landscape green with palms, succulents and colorful plants that bloom year-round to the chapparal dotted dry desert — on just one street — that’s the amazing Coachella Valley for you.
A JEFFERSON STREET JOURNEY: La Quinta to Indio — Part I
One clear and sunny morning, we had a business breakfast at Ernie’s Bar and Grill at PGA West, the home of the American Express Golf Tournament. What a beautiful way to start the day with fresh fruit plates and blueberry muffins while overlooking the Jack Nicklaus golf course. Would that we could start every day in such a manner.
Business concluded, we left the clubhouse and drove north on PGA West Way to leave the resort. We couldn’t see any of the five private or four public golf courses, but we did enjoy the four-lane boulevard lined with willowy mesquite tress and shaded by tall queen palms and their feathery, arching leaves. The grass lawns alongside the road and on the center-island were a glossy, dark green, as befits the “Western Home of Golf in America.”
Upon leaving PGA West heading north is the official beginning of Jefferson Street at Avenue 54. Upon exiting PGA, you can’t help but be impressed by the 12-foot-high hedge on the right that borders the Hideaway, a plush, private golf enclave. Bonnie loves to see jacaranda blooming in the spring and she was delighted to see what looked like its lobed, blueish-purple flowers peeking from the green mass of shrubbery.
To our left across an expanse of undeveloped land was SilverRock Resort, the city-of La Quinta-owned golf course, with the Santa Rosa Mountains rising abruptly behind it. Given the distance, we couldn’t make out the construction progress on the new clubhouse, hotel and homes that are being built around the golf course. We’ll have to come back for a closer look at this new development.
Past the Avenue 52 round-about rows of orange, lemon and lime trees came into sight on our left. Naturally these bright little flowering buds of fruit are alongside the wall of – what else — the Citrus Club.
On the right was the Mountain View Country Club; the two clubs occupy much of the land up to Avenue 50.
As we drove on, we saw more roadside desert landscaping with lots and lots of fiery red bougainvillea and the occasional more delicate white oleander. There must have been a sale on bougainvillea when the resorts switched to water-saving desert landscaping. How about some lavender? That would be a pleasant look and nice smell.
At Avenue 50 there was a small shopping center and several stores. Among them a Ralph’s Supermarket, CVS drugstore, a clothing boutique and a trio of international restaurants: Mario’s Italian, one of seven of this local family’s mini-chain; Heirloom Craft Kitchen, a casual dining spot featuring “scratch-made soups, salads, sandwiches, small plates and signature dishes,” and Tu Madres Cantina & Grill. All good.
Jefferson Street Journey to be continued.
The After-Party for the Stagecoach Country Music Festival
SOLD — In Escrow in 1 Day
Great views of the 18-hole championship golf course AND sunsets with those pink and purple shadowed Little San Bernardino Mts. as your backdrop. This 1763 SF Avalino great room model has both a front courtyard for morning coffee and a big, expanded back patio with waterfall and brook for maximum enjoyment and relaxation. This property is FURNISHED with high-end furnishings from such vendors as Ethan Allen and Mathis Bros. Italian porcelain tile, slab granite, stainless steel appliances and tall wood cabinets make it functional and beautiful.
It’s just a short walk or golf cart ride to the fitness center and Montecito clubhouse for pools, spas, bocce, tennis, events, clubs, billiards, 18-hole putting course, cards and so much more all for low dues. Low green fees for owners and tenants on 2 golf courses plus a full-service restaurant. Sun City Shadow Hills is an award-winning community that offers the best in a resort lifestyle for seniors. This home is perfect year-round living or vacationing.
High Demand, Low Inventory Dominate Greater Palm Springs Area Home Sales Again in March
Prices continue to surge due to high demand and lack of supply, according to the March Desert Housing Report published by Market Watch.
At the end of March, the median price of a detached home in the Coachella Valley was $660,000, which represents a year-over-year gain of 20%.
The median price for attached homes was $450,000, which is a gain of 30%.
12-Month Change in Price of Average Size Home
Summary of Price Change of Average Size Home — The cities of Coachella and Indian Wells have year-over-year gains for detached homes over 40%, while five cities have gains over 30%. In the attached market three cities – Desert Hot Springs, Bermuda Dunes and Indio – have gains above 50%, while Cathedral City, La Quinta and Palm Desert have average gains over 40%.
The chart below shows the size of the average home in each of the area’s cities, followed by the price per square foot and the price.
Total Sales — 3-Month Trailing Average
Three-month sales in March averaged 910 units a month, which is 19% less than last March.
While below the peak levels of last year, March sales are above pre-pandemic March averages.
Market Watch says that the largest decline in sales continues to be in the four major resort cities — La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage.
The cities Market Watch classifies as primarily “work force” cities – Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs and Indio – continue to show sales levels comparable to last year.
Inventory Continues to Remain Low
On April 1, Coachella Valley inventory stood at 678 units, compared to 742 a year ago. There was no seasonal increase in inventory this year, something that usually happens between October and April. The report noted that this is worrisome since the same seasonal pattern now points to inventory contracting from May to September.
The sales pace at the end of March, or average days on market to sell a home in the greater Palm Springs area, was 28 days, which is one day less than last month and 12 days less than last year.
With inventory remaining low and sales staying high, Market Watch concluded that continued high demand and low supply will keep selling times near their current low levels.
Bonnie Steele 