Average Palm Springs home sale about $1.3 million as valley prices head back toward earlier peak

The latest data from a local real estate organization shows home prices rose for the second month in a row and are now close to the recent peak in prices we saw six months ago. Experts say that lines up with seasonal trends.

First things first: Home prices throughout the Coachella Valley in February reached a median of $682,000, only 4% below the peak price of $700,000 six months ago.

• In Palm Springs, the price of an average-sized home is about $1.3 million, up about 6% from last year. 

In demand: Palm Springs has the shortest median selling time in the valley at 35 days. The valley average is 48 days.

• The city also has one of the lower price discounts. When a home here sells under list, it’s usually by an average of about 3%.
  
   
• Still, only about 13% of homes are selling above list compared to 44% last year.  

Sales: Every city has lower three-month average sales compared to last year, but Palm Springs has the second highest average, behind only Palm Desert.
 
What’s out there: Inventory in the valley sat at 1,956 units as of March 1. That’s slightly down compared to February but still higher than last year, when there were only 607 units.

• By now, analysts had hoped we’d have about 2,500 units in the valley, but they say we haven’t hit that mark because new listings remain “near historic lows.”

What to look for: Despite recent price increases, price fluctuations should remain within “acceptable bounds,” the report states, because there is still a balance between buyers and sellers.

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