Here are the latest sales numbers for all homes sold within the City of La Quinta as well as all Golf Course homes in La Quinta through September, 2012.
The blue lines represent 2008 data, the orange lines represent 2009 data magenta lines represent 2010, green lines represent 2011 data and the purple lines represent 2012 data.
Open escrows in La Quinta on September 30th decreased over June by 14.8%. The decrease in escrows is due to the traditional heat of the summer months. As you can see from the graph, this is a normal trend. The Coachella Valley Inventory has increased by 17.8% over June after both July and August showing decreases. The number of active listings at the end of September rose from 3,095 units at the end of August to 3,996 active listings at the end of September. We feel that this uncharacteristic jump is due to the low number of listings in both July and August. The “Active” inventory of resale homes in the Citrus community, for instance, is up to 3.3% from 2.4% in June where 10% is considered normal for a gated community. The Citrus has always had around 5 -6% of its homes for sale as it is a very desirable community to live in. The number of escrows at the end of June for the more expensive golf course properties decreased by 38.0% over June. The valley’s inventory continues to remain low despite the September increase which results in an increase in demand. The increased demand helps stabilize the market pricing over the lower priced short sales and bank owned properties. The unsold inventory continues to remain low, prices in some areas, like the La Quinta Cove, continue to increase slowly. As we get past the uncertainty of the election and into our “season”, we expect to see prices over the valley start to rise slowly.
The number of monthly unit sales within the city decreased in September by 41.6% over June which may be attributed to declining inventory, the summer season and the heat but we expect that sales will continue to be near or higher than past summers as sales are continuing to pick up in the bigger metro markets allowing people to sell their current homes and purchase a retirement property here in the desert. The number of “short sales” and “bank owned” properties being offered at reduced prices continue to be tapering off. There were only 9 Bank owned homes sold in La Quinta in June. Most lenders seem to be dealing more efficiently with the inventory of distressed properties although short sales and/or foreclosures can still be a challenge and they are still affecting the prices in the entire market as they are included as comparable homes by the buyers.
Golf Course home sales in La Quinta.
Like the sales trend for the entire city, the sales-volume numbers in the higher-end market (which contains many of the golf properties in the chart above) decreased 50.0% in September over June.
Overall, we continue to see more positive signs in the market place and the media continues to be encouraging. We are anticipating a good finish for the rest of 2012. The mortgage industry is the best it’s been for conventional loans and even the “jumbo” loans, are becoming easier to get..
Coachella Valley Inventory:
On September, 30, there were 3,996 active listings (up 17.7% from June), 2,692 units were in escrow (up 4.5% from June) totaling 6,688 units (Up 12.6% from June) available for sale which makes 40.25% of the total inventory in escrow (down 6.7% from June). If buying property is something on your list (especially golf property), why not take advantage of the incredible prices and seller incentives now, when sellers will work with you, instead of in the future, when the demand starts to catch up with the supply? Especially if you’re buying and planning to hold for 5+ years.
Here are some yearly sales figures (units) for the City of La Quinta from 2002:
| Year | All | LQ Golf Course |
| 2002 | 1,354 | 259 |
| 2003 | 1,565 | 652 |
| 2004 | 1,931 | 813 |
| 2005 | 1,553 | 657 |
| 2006 | 1,098 | 491 |
| 2007 | 935 | 447 |
| 2008 | 1,063 | 416 |
| 2009 | 1,155 | 418 |
| 2010 | 1,355 | 530 |
| 2011 | 1,446 | 520 |
| 2012 YTD | 1,163 | 470 |
* 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.
Source: DesertAreaMLS