July 2023 Hi Desert Real Estate Market Update

Dear Real Estate Fan,

Summer has arrived in full force this weekend. It looks like this year, our July will be hot and dry. Many of us remember last year as one of the most humid summers on record. Dry heat, wet heat, this weekend will just be HOT!

But not the real estate market. In fact, the more I look at the numbers, the more I think we may have slid into a normal state in our market. Last month we closed escrow on 112 homes. This is down from 168 in 2022. If I look at 2015 through 2018, our sales look very similar. Today our price points are about double that of 2018. Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms are currently over double the price of homes in 2018. Yucca Valley is just a little below double. Our prices are twice the 2018 and our sales are in the same range. My point is this may be normal for our communities.

We want to blame interest rates or changing interest in our communities but there is always demand for housing. Those of us who survived this market in the Great Recession, remember that we sold less than 1000 homes a year for over 10 years as we healed. It looks like this year we will sell around 1,400 to 1,500 homes community wide. Not as bad as we paint it. Well priced homes are selling. Well kept homes are selling. Unfortunately, many of our homes are overpriced for what you are buying. Almost 10% of homes listed today are over $1mil. In 2015 we had maybe two. Over 17% of our listings are over $500 per square foot. Another 79 are over $400 per square foot. 31% of our listings are well above average per square foot for our communities.  Things that make you go Hmmmm.

Highlights of this month’s Update include-

1. We currently have lots to choose from. Over 580 homes are active on the market.
2. As I mentioned above, we closed on 112 homes. Down from 168 last year.
3. The average price of a home increased in Joshua Tree but decreased in Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms.
4. Yucca Valley continues to dominate sales in the community. Joshua Tree continues to be more expensive than our other communities (maybe Pioneertown gives it a run). 40% of sales were in Yucca Valley.

Stay cool and enjoy the summer warmth. As always, if you know of someone who needs help with real estate, please send them my way.

Sincerely,

Bob Armstrong
(760) 221-2999
DRE #01275801
GREEN Real Estate Group