Spring Update on the Desert Real Estate Market-or- Why is it so darn hard to buy a house!!!

How hard can it be? All I want is a home!!!

If you are in the market to purchase a home in the desert areas of California you may be experiencing a great deal of frustration. Yes the deals look good, yes the media tells you now is the time to buy while we are at the bottom, yes you can find a perfect home at mid 1990’s prices BUT you just can’t seem to get a deal accepted! What can possibly be the problem?

Many Agents tell me they are receiving upwards of 60 offers on their listings! With this many offers only the best and easiest of offers is accepted. Even then, if it is a bank owned property, you get a notice from the Seller looking for the “highest and best” offer. In other words, you are forced to negotiate with yourself. If it is a short sale, many times you are subjected to the mental drain of waiting to hear if your offer was accepted. For a short sale this can take upwards of 120 days! Buyers lose interest around day 30 if they are not sure of completion of the purchase.

Here is a glance at the Hi Desert market that we work in:

Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree/ Twentynine Palms- At this writing there are 533 homes for sale in this market. This number is a bit misleading based on Realtors putting over priced homes on the MLS. In this area the average home sells for around $65 per square foot. If I remove homes listed for sale at over $100 per square foot, we find 347 homes available. This year in April we sold 77 homes, a 31+% decrease from 2011 same month (113 homes sold). The problem with the Hi Desert market is the overpriced inventory! With the real number of available homes at 347, we have around a four month supply of homes. When a properly priced home hits the market, it will receive multiple offers. The other problem is a lack of Buyers for this market. With only 77 homes sold, and most of these under $100k, you can imagine the feeding frenzy when a good deal becomes available.

Patience is the key if you are a Buyer in today’s market. Trust your Realtor to guide you to homes that are priced correctly for today. Don’t fall in love with the home until you have a fully executed contract. If you need help or someone to talk to about this market, CALL ME!!! I am available anytime to discuss our current market conditions. 760.221.2999.