Palm Springs Market Watch: September 2008

Palm Springs Area - (Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio, Bermuda Dunes)

August is traditionally a slow month here because it is so hot and everyone is tired of the summer. After Labor Day, the market starts improving. I was very apprehensive about this September because of the credit crisis and the stock market volatility. Plus, all the bad news in the media does not make one feel comfortable about investing!

Inventory increased by 600 properties; however sales increased by 54%!!!! Even though the majority of sales are bank owned REO properties, it demonstrates that there is still a substantial number of buyers for the current bargains.

Type	Total Inventory	Pendings	New Listings	New Listings/Sales Ratio	Sales As Percent Of Inventory
Single Family Homes	4230	458	1068	2.3 to 1	11%
Condos	1377	72	299	4 to 1	5%
Multi-Family	190	9	37	4 to 1	5%

Multi-Family properties enjoyed 9 sales. Eight of these were Bank Owned, with one being a short sale.

Short sales are where the bank agrees to accept less than the full amount of their loan. Only about 5% of properties marketed as a short sale actually closes escrow. The banks just take too long to make decisions.

I believe if the house/senate passes the bail-out bill, the presidential election is resolved and interest rates stay low, 2009 should be a better year for real estate than 2008 has been.

Remember, there are opportunities in every market. You just have to be smart enough to figure out how to take advantage of any market conditions.

Each month I reiterate you have to understand the numbers to really see what is happening in the marketplace. Anyone can make a case for whatever they want to project if they use the right numbers.

*REO – stands for Real Estate Owned and is a term that means Bank Owned Real Estate…obtained from a foreclosure action.