The City of La Quinta, home sales for the 2016 “Season” (January thru May) were 0.7% higher than the same period in 2015. It seems like the “Season” never really materialized in 2015. We started that year with a tight inventory of homes for sale. That lack of homes for sale was a major contributor in the decrease in sales for the first half of the year. Another factor may have been the result of the announcement and press coverage of the state’s drought condition. This was a new hot topic and was a concern to a significant number of potential buyers. For these and other reasons, sales didn’t get started until April. A difference from the prior years was that the sales continued through June and July, dropped off in August, but then were strong again in October and November.
2016 has been very similar to 2015 except the January sales were even less than 2015, and the inventory started growing at a rapid pace. The inventory continued to grow and the sales were slow, which turned the market into a buyer’s market with prices dropping. Although the rumor mill has attributed this increase in listings and the decrease in sales to Canadians, we do not believe that to be the major reason. It probably accounts to 5% of the increase in inventory in certain areas of the Desert. As far as the decrease in buyers, the Canadians have not been purchasing here much in the last 3 years, since the fall of the Canadian dollar in 2013. Some other factors that are playing a huge role in our market are the current state of the world economy, and the down turn of the stock market. The Desert is a second home market, and when people see their portfolios decrease, the idea of that second home is put on the waiting list. The good news is that sales started picking up in April of this year and hopefully will continue throughout the summer.
Because of the above information the average price per square foot decreased 1.8% for the first 5 months in 2016 over 2015.
Below are some Graphs representing the City of La Quinta. The Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors (PSRAR) publishes monthly statistics for the entire Coachella Valley. That report can be seen by clicking here.
Here are some yearly sales figures (units) for the City of La Quinta from 2002:
Year – All LQ – Golf Course
2002 – 1,356 – 259
2003 – 1,572 – 640
2004 – 1,938 – 785
2005 – 1,563 – 638
2006 – 1,118 – 483
2007 – 942 – 444
2008 – 1,076 – 405
2009 – 1,202 – 409
2010 – 1,360 – 518
2011 – 1,446 – 510
2012 – 1,532 – 587
2013 – 1,537 – 567
2014 – 1,284 – 576
2015 – 1,259 – 512
2016 – 567 – 248 through May
* Remember that the sales numbers represent “Closed” escrows. Since the average escrow is between 45 and 60 days, the decision to purchase the homes that closed in June was probably made in March to early April.
For more information about the Coachella Valley Real Estate market,
Please call us at (760) 203-2621!
Source: DesertAreaMLS