June 2024 Hi Desert Real Estate Market Update

Greetings Real Estate Fans,

Summer has rolled in like a furnace. Even my pool temperature hit 89° over the weekend!

I am excited to announce a new section to my monthly Updates. Over the years, I have had many questions about the health of our vacant land sales in our communities. Of course, we slowed down in vacant land sales because of the economy and the new Joshua Tree regulations. I added a vacant land summary as part of the Update with a breakdown in both inventory and sales for our local communities. You will find this section between residential sales information and the Alta Market Report. Should be interesting to watch over time.

In our history of sales, we start to see purchases increase after the winter months. We usually see an uptick in closed escrows starting in April and running through July. Last month we closed escrow on just 90 homes. Compare this to 2023 with 125 closings compared to 2022 with 175 closings. We are definitely on a downward trend and have been since the spring of 2022. Nothing I can see at this moment shows any trend away from downward.

Add to this our high inventory. At this writing, we have 747 active homes for sale in our communities. This is a very high amount. With this amount of inventory, it is hard to stand out from everyone else. At this time in our market, price is the major driver for buyers. Sure, some unique properties disrupt the curve but in general, price is driving the buyer’s decision. Realtors need to be upfront and honest with their clients to manage expectations.

Other highlights of the June Update include-

Joshua Tree sales are significantly lower. The low amount of sales skews the number by month. Make no mistake, JT is our most valuable market, but it has shown lower numbers this year over the last five or so.

Higher priced properties did better last month than in previous months. Only 61% of sales were below $400,000 (this number has been almost 80% in previous months).

Average prices increased in all three communities.

Average days on market (DOM) increased in all but Twentynine Palms.

There is always a way to buy and sell in a complex market. If you have any friends or family that need help in this complex time, please have them contact me.

Sincerely,

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