The latest California Desert Association of Realtors (CDAR) October housing report for the Coachella Valley is chock full of local market news.
The short story: Local housing prices and inventory are up while sales continue to decline.
Read more: Watching Coachella Valley housing can sometimes feel like following the bouncing ball as prices rise and fall, inventory fluctuates with the season and sales vary widely city by city.
In October 2023, the CDAR reports median price of a detached home in the Coachella Valley ended October at $642,450, up slightly for the month but down 2.7% year over year. The price decline over the last five months has been primarily seasonal. The median attached price in the Valley was effectively unchanged last month at $435,000 and is now down 4.4% year over year. Year over year price changes for detached homes ranged from an increase of 11% in Bermuda Dunes to a decline of 9% in the city of Coachella. Six cities have gains for their attached homes – Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, Bermuda Dunes, Cathedral City and Indio.
Sales continue to decline. The three-month average of sales was 513 units in October, which is 53 units less than the same period of time last year. The 12-month average of sales, which takes out seasonality, shows sales are averaging 599 units a month. This is 25% below last year. The city with the largest percentage increase is Rancho Mirage, with sales up 17%. The cities with the largest declines are Indio and La Quinta, with sales down 20% each.
At the height of the pandemic in January of 2021, sales were 59.5% above the norm. Sales fell to 34.7% below normal by January of 2023 but then began to improve. This stopped by May and sales are now running 30.8% below normal. This is almost all due to higher interest rates and the digesting of the excess demand that was created by low rates during Covid.
In October, Valley inventory increased 348 units and by November 1st it stood at 2,110 units. While most of this increase is seasonal, we’re struck by the size of the gain, which is larger than most increases in October. The Valley’s “months of sales” ratio was 3.5 months, which is up .5 months from last month and one month more than last year. This fundamental ratio measures supply and demand and, at 3.5 months, is at a level that is somewhat normal.
The median selling time in the region is relatively stable, according to the latest report. At the end of October, the median number of “days in the market” in the Coachella Valley was 37 days, which is one day less than last month and two days more than last year. The city of Coachella continues to have the lowest median selling time for detached homes at 27 days, followed by Palm Springs at 32 days and Cathedral City at 35 days. In the attached market, Desert Hot Springs continues to have the shortest average selling time at 28 days, followed by Palm Springs at 33 days.
In October, 16.5% of sales sold above list price, compared to 21.7% a year ago. Every city continues to average a selling discount for detached homes, which range from .7% in the City of Coachella to 4.1% in Bermuda Dunes. Discounts for attached homes range from 1.6% in Palm Springs to 3.3% in La Quinta.
See the full report prepared by Market Watch for the CDAR here.
