June 2020 Hi Desert Real Estate Market Update

Warm, Summer Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we watch spring fade into the past, we can only hope our world settles down and we can find a peaceful, and hopeful future. With that being said:

 As far as local real estate is concerned, I am starting to believe we may see the strongest market our area has ever experienced. I believe the stars are aligned for our communities. Read this from Fox News:

Nearly 40% of U.S. adults living in urban areas indicated they would consider moving “out of populated areas and toward rural areas,” compared to 29% of overall respondents. And 43% of urbanites – a significantly higher percentage than of suburban (26%) and rural (21%) residents – said they’d recently browsed real estate websites such as Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com for homes or apartments to rent or buy.
Adults between the ages of 18 and 34 as well as those 35 to 49 indicated a higher likelihood of shifting to the suburbs or rural areas than older age groups, with 40% and 35% saying they were at least somewhat likely to consider the move, respectively.

With a big potential of families migrating out of urban areas and a continuingly strong vacation home market, I believe we may have an 18 to 24 month run of low inventory and rising property values. Time will tell. As for the month of May, let’s just say it is good to have it behind us for a variety of reasons. Some highlights of the May Update.

1. Inventory is the lowest since I have been providing updates. At 324 available homes for sale, we are down over 150 homes below same time last year! This puts upward pressure on prices.
2. We saw an almost 30% drop in closed escrows compared to same month last year.
3. Our over $300,000 market continues to be steady.
4. Joshua Tree has once again had an average price over $300,000
5. All three larger communities showed a gain in price per square foot.
6. For the first time in my records, all three communities were comparable in days on market.

It appears the great state of California continues to make it difficult to open our offices and to show property. The restrictions are tough but most of us are working with it to find buyers for our listings.

If you know of someone who would like to sell but has been holding back, please have them contact me. All three homes I listed in May went into escrow in May. Like everyone, I would love to have more homes to list because, if listed within reason, there is big demand from Buyers.

I trust you have come through our quarantine safe and rested. Have a great June and a very happy Fourth of July!

Sincerely,

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