October 2023 Hi Desert Real Estate Market Update

Happy October Real Estate Fans,

Ah! The trees are turning color, temperatures are cooling, pumpkins are out! Well, maybe not the trees. I trust you are enjoying the break from the heat. Next it will be cold but soon spring will return. Kind of like our local real estate market. This last month we closed 81 escrows. That’s a low mark not seen in years. In fact, it was way back in September 2015 since we saw this low of escrow closings. Sound familiar? I feel like I have been referring to 2015 a lot lately.

Here is the thing. Yes, sales are slow. Much slower than we have seen in many years. Yes, we have a lot to choose from. 575 homes available for sale when I did this update. 591 as I write this today. But for a community that really has no major job source and for most of its life was considered a retirement community, we are not doing bad. The worst thing is the magnitude of the drop in sales. This week many lenders raised rates to 8% or more. Many adults cannot remember when rates were this high. Most in this group are under 30. Many between 30 and 40 were not homeowners during this time so they don’t remember either.

It is what it is. A good Realtor (like me) can help guide a buyer or seller through this mess. 81 houses sold last month. 81 buyers purchased a home. For discussion, 162 households had a major change last month. Not bad for our little rural communities. Like I said last month, this may be the norm for the next two years or until the Fed’s stop raising rates and cooling off.

Highlights of this Update include-

1. Inventory is climbing again. I expect it will hover around its current number through December. We will see a big drop around the new year and a gradual building into next spring.
2. Two communities increased in average price. Joshua Tree dropped in average price.
3. Over 70% of sales are below $400,000. We have seen this for several months now. High end properties tend to set for some time.
4. One community saw an increase in price per square foot. Two declined in price per square foot.
5. Days on market increased in one community and decreased in two.

As always, if you know of someone who can use help in our real estate market, please give them my contact details. We can always find a winning solution to their real estate needs.

Sincerely,

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