Barry Noble's Blog

Southern California Desert Resort Cities - Palm Springs and the 7 Other Resort Cities of the Coachella Valley

As far as the home you own or are thinking of selling or buying: 2010 PredictionValues won’t rise at any notable rate this year – we are, State wide and Locally, still in a general but slower decline, so don’t be surprised by reports of rising sales and rising “Median Values” as both do not affect individual ranges of values (see below), as some agents would have you "automatically" believe..

The Median Values fluctuate up and down the most, depending on how many very low end and very high end homes sell, especially the high valued homes,  in a given period (usually reported by the month). If the high end homes have a “hot” sales week, the Median Value will seem to jump notably higher over the month before, even though there have been multiple dropping-value sales in the lower end. Average values are equally misleading. He only way to understand how your home or the home you wish to buy is faring in the Current Market, is to find the average or median value for just that limited price range. Maybe this will help.

At this time, lower end valued homes have dropped the highest percentage of their 2005 values and are almost at their bottom of the current Market Cycle, Cycle means they rise and lower in a period cycle, so, yes, the values will rise again and may in the next few years surpass the 2005 values, so for the lower priced family housing in most Coachella Valley cities, NOW may be an excellent time to buy, because within 2-3 years, you should have a sizable equity increase in value.

Medium to medium-high valued homes are still dropping in values, though more slowly than in 2008 and 2009. This will continue through most of 2010, there should be a notable increase in foreclosure and short-sales activity in this value range, so they haven’t “bottomed out” yet, and you need to be wary buying in this value range, unless a super buy comes along. Seek real good, local help before buying in this range.

High to higher valued homes ($1M to $3M) were late to the bankruptcy and short sales party – so they are still experiencing sharp value drops, and many people who bought these properties at inflated values in 2004,2005 and even 2006 are now experiencing severe cuts in equity and foreclosures will be more notable in this value range in 2010. Be careful.

The highest valued homes ($4M and up) have seen a drop in values, but this market hasn’t been as severely affected as other value ranges of homes as of yet, and they may be much less affected even through 2010, so just get real help in buying the home – someone who really knows local values and is also a Broker and can help you properly price a home to sell or secure the best price to buy.

Some areas are affected differently, too. Desert Hot Springs saw a heavy handed drop in property values in most sectors of the city. On the other hand, Rancho Mirage seems nearly impervious to radical change. I doesn't rise fast nor drop fast in the Market Cycle. It is one of the most stable of the desert resort cities.

Barry Noble
Working with and predicting the
local RE Market for 20 years
Coachella Valley-wide
State of California Licensed Broker
And Certified Residential Appraiser
http://www.MyPropertyIsWorth.com