The holiday season has been an incredibly busy time for home sales in La Quinta! Who would have thought? Normally the week before Christmas and through to the week after New Year’s Eve is an extremely slow time for home sales in the Desert. It is a busy time for people to be with families and normally not to be focuing on home purchasing. However, 2013 has proven to have a life of it’s own during this time, and specifically in La Quinta. We have been so busy at Gallaudet Properties that we had trouble being with family! Why is this the case? I have a couple of ideas:
- Buyers are noticing the low inventory and the fact that it doesn’t seem to be growing.
- New homes that are coming on the market are coming on at higher prices than even two months ago, and they are selling at higher prices. Of the last 3 homes that we sold in December, we had bidding wars and they all sold at or above list price.
- We do not see many distressed homes (short sales or bank owned homes) coming on the market anymore – in the past, these may have kept buyers on the fence waiting for the “next deal” if they happened to miss the deal in front of them.
- Interest rates are increasing. In my opinion, that shouldn’t have a huge effect because rates are still low, but psycologically, it does have an impact on the buyers.
- Effective January 1, FHA loans have lowered their cap to $355,350 in Riverside County. Buyers wanted to get into the market before that took place.
- Less inventory and upward price pressure has created more of a seller’s market which has increased seller’s confidence levels and a restored a more positive outlook that their home will sell and that they don’t necessarily need to consider all offers – just the good ones.
The above points, in addition to the fact that the weather in the Desert has been absolutely perfect with blue skies and temperatures in the 70s and 80s, have kept the home sales strong through the holiday season of 2013. Very small inventory levels continue to be our reality here – there is just not a lot for sale relatively speaking. If you want a great home where the sun is always shining give us a call today and let us start the process of finding your dream home. It might take a little while, depending on your needs, so it’s a good idea to start the process now.
