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 May, 2012.
City of La Quinta home sales by month since January, 2008*
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.
By the time we got around to writing up the April Sales Analysis, the May numbers were available so this time we will combine the good news from both months.
Open escrows in La Quinta on April 31st increased over March by 1.4% but then decreased by 2.5% in May. The decresae in escrows is due to the season winding down as we move into the summer months. The Coachella Valley Inventory has decreased by 11.5% over the past two months which is a great sign for our economy. The number of escrows at the end of April for the more expensive Golf Properties increased by 0.8% over March but decreased by 6.2% in May. The valley’s inventory continues to shrink increasing the demand. The increased demand helps stablize the market pricing over the lower priced short sales and bank owned properties. The unsold inventory has declined 47.2% over the high in January, 2011. Prices in some areas, like the La Quinta Cove, are acutally increasing slowly.
The number of unit sales within the City decreased in April slightly and bounced back in May within 5 units from the record month of February. We expect that sales will continue to outpace past summers as sales are picking up in the bigger metro markets allowing people to sell there current homes and purchase a retirement property here in paradise.
The number of “short sales” and “bank owned” properties being offered at reduced prices seem to be tapering off. There were only 28 Bank owned homes sold in La Quinta in May and the current Inventory according to the MLS is only 9 but that changes almost daily. 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.
Closed home sales in La Quinta in May was the second strongest month after March since we started tracking this number in 2008.
Golf Course home sales in La Quinta.
Like the total sales number for the City, the sales-volume numbers in the higher-end market (which contains many of the golf properties in the chart above) decreased in April slightly but bounced back to near record levels in May.
Overall, we are seeing 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 May, 31, there were 3,774 active listings (down 18.8% from March), 2,968 units were in escrow (down 0.2% from March) totaling 6,742 units (Down 11.5% from March) available for sale which makes 44.02% of the total inventory in escrow (up 12.8% from March) –This trend is an indicator of increasing home sales for the months of April and May.
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 | 699 | 300 |
* 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