Low inventory and high demand are pushing the local real estate market off the bottom.

Short sales and bank-owned property sales continue to dwindle.

Low inventory is here to stay for the next year or two. We don’t see that changing for several reasons.

First, there is no new home building going on, which is necessary to increase inventory and relieve the pressure.

Second, many existing homeowners aren’t going anywhere. They are underwater and unable to sell.

Lastly, forget about phantom inventory. For instance, as of April, the banks owned 185 properties in Palm Desert. That number includes homes AND condos. There were 169 properties sold last month. Even if the banks put all their inventory on the market, it’s only one month’s worth!

Desert Home Sales Up in April

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes rose 3.9% last month. That’s the sixteenth month in a row home sales have been higher than the year before.

The real estate market in the La Quinta area has enjoyed year-over-year average price increases for five out of the last six months.

The median price for single-family, re-sale homes jumped 13.8% from the year before, and is now at its highest level since May 2010.

Condo sales were up 23.4% from March, and up 20.2% year-over-year.

The median price for condos rose 11.5% from March, but was off 2.8% year-over-year.

There area still deals to be found but you had better be ready to jump on them if they are good ones!

The summer months are here but the homes are still selling!!!!!!