January’s Existing Home Median Price Rises, Sales Dip, Says CDAR

www.cdaronline.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

February 21, 2019 Scott Newton, CDAR President

(760) 346-5637

With City by City Sales Chart

(Media) John Hussar

PRNewsWorks (760) 567-8073

January’s Existing Home Median Price Rises, Sales Dip, Says California Desert Association of REALTORS®

PALM DESERT (Calif.) – The new year started with a rise in the median price of existing homes, but a slight drop in sales, compared to January 2018 totals, the California Desert Association of REALTORS® reported today.

The median price of existing home sales was $407,950, up from $395,000 in January 2018. Existing home sales were 426 in January down from 481 in January 2018, the CDAR monthly report showed.

Sales of condominiums also were down last month at 186, compared to 228 in January 2018. But for the positive news: the median sales price of condominiums was $272,000 in January, up from $271,000 in January 2018.

Scott Newton, president of the California Desert Association of REALTORS®, echoed what Leslie Appleton-Young, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for the California Association of REALTORS®, had to say about January’s real estate market:

“While we expected the federal government shutdown during most of January to temporarily interrupt closings because of a delay in loan approvals and income verifications, the impact on January’s home sales was minimal,” she said. “The decline in sales was more indicative of demand side issues and was broad and across all price categories and regions of the state. Moreover, growing inventory over the past few months has not translated into more sales.”

Added Newton: “The translation to the Coachella Valley seems to reflect similar patterns. We are seeing buyers bringing the same attitudes about the real estate market from where they are from, whether it’s Orange County or San Diego, or wherever. These markets have seen a cooling and they expect the same to be happening here.”

The January inventory of available existing single-family homes was 3,329 and 1,124 available condos, compared to 3,804 existing homes and 1,779 condos in January 2018.

The January statistics, including median and average sale prices, are based on the industry standard Multiple Listing Service in tracking sales for buyers and sellers. This report reflects sales in Bermuda Dunes, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. Here is the City by City breakdown of sales of existing homes and condos:

The California Desert Association of REALTORS ®, The Trusted Source for Real Estate in the Desert Communities, represents more than 3,700 real estate professionals from Palm Springs to Blythe. REALTORS® hold themselves to a higher standard via the National Association of REALTORS®’ Code of Ethics, yet only about a quarter of California licensed real estate agents are REALTORS®. For more information – or to verify you’re working with a REALTOR® – visit www.CDARonline.org or call (760) 346-5637. ###