When down markets end, almost all investors regret not buying during the hard times. Too many investors want to wait until they are sure values won’t fall any more. But by that time, they probably have climbed back up. Then everybody wants back in, and the bargain goes away like a wet spot on a blackboard. Timing markets is impossible. What you need to do is buy when the numbers are good enough, not try to time it perfectly such that the numbers won’t get any better. In some markets today, the numbers are good enough regardless of whether they will get even better in those markets in the future.

April/ May Upcoming Events
Stagecoach Festival, April 25 - 26
10th Annual Golf Classic, April 27
"Joe & Mustard" April 27
Annual Elvis Honeymoon Weekend May 1 - 3
Cops and Kids 13th Annual Charity Golf Tournament May 3
"Ted Herman and his Orchestra" 1st and 3rd Tuesday in May
.David Copperfield May 12 - 14
Smooth Jazz Festival May 16
"Salute to America" May 21
"My Name is Eartha But You Can Call Me Miss Kitty" May 23
Palm Springs Film Noir Festival May 28 - 31
"A Mystic Weekend" May 29 - 30
Palm Springs Restaurant Week May 31 - June 9
Annoucement:Indian Wells Theater Announces Exciting New Upcoming Season

April 15, 2009

Entry-level sales take off
Sales of property priced under $500,000 double in Coachella Valley
Debra Gruszecki • The Desert Sun as of March 15
Sales of entry-level homes dominated the Coachella Valley real estate scene during the fourth quarter of 2008, while big-ticket properties turned in a disappointing performance, new data shows. "It's almost like the original tale of two markets,” said Patrick Veling, president and founder of Brea-based Real Data Strategies, which provides and analyzes real estate data for The Desert Sun.

“Except, it's flipped: Entry-level home sales are robust” with a 58 percent gain over 2007. “High-priced real estate sales took it on the chin.”

The company has tracked real estate trends across the nation for more than 16 years and provides data to The Desert Sun for a comprehensive look at the Multiple Listing Service market. It made its observations from the 1,867 sales tracked in the last three months of 2008:

Sales of property priced under $500,000 doubled compared to the fourth quarter of 2007.
Real estate activity mushroomed in west Desert Hot Springs, where sales prices averaged $108,247.
Sales of mid-range homes dropped nearly 50 percent.
Sales in the market between $750,000 and $1million fell by one-third.
Homes priced above $1 million declined nearly 56 percent.
“I have never seen prices tumble so dramatically in such a short time,” Veling said. “There has never been such a clear indicator that price is driving this sales phenomenon.”

Greg Berkemer, executive director of the California Desert Association of Realtors in Palm Desert, has described the market as one that can be unfairly harsh and hugely rewarding at the same time.
“It depends on what line you happen to be standing in,” he said.

“The line for buyers is better now than the line for sellers. Even so, the non-serious buyer or seller should get out of line to allow those that need and want to sell or buy to meet.”




2009 Sales over $1,000,000 prepared by www.luxurydeserthomes.com
January - 13
February - 11
March - 24

Call for specific details as to where these occurred. Barry 760-574-7676