Now that we are in mid-November, the desert has again undergone a beautiful transformation! The golf courses and lawns have sprouted velvet green grass; the crisp air offers up-close mountain views and the mild temperatures invite all to return, winter residents as well as visitors. But, I think that we full time residents appreciate the change of seasons more than the part timers.

Along with November comes a sense of anticipation. What is the local economy going to be like this season? What will be the attitude of that very important winter population? Will the people returning be ready to make purchases? How is retail going to do? How are the restaurants going to fare? Most importantly, will real estate sales be stronger than last year?

Just a few weeks into season, it is too early to know for sure. Almost every year, the highest real estate activity starts in mid-January and runs through April. November & December and May & June tend to be ‘shoulder’ months, meaning activity is picking up in November and starts slowing down in May.

I have seen some high-end sales activity starting to happen. There are many very serious sellers on the market, and these are the properties that have been selling. There are potential buyers making extremely low offers, trying to see how soft the prices might be, but many offers are just too low to produce a sale.

It appears to me that the desert real estate market we are currently experiencing will be the ‘new normal’ for the near future, maybe 3-4 years. As the inventory of distressed property works its way through the system, we should find some price stabilization. The size of the distressed inventory is not large when compared to the total inventory, but it makes up a much larger part of what is actually selling.

This month I have included the following items you might find interesting:

•	‘Country Clubs: Stuck in the Rough’ A very timely article from Business Week, describing the challenges country clubs are having across the country attracting new members. Although no Coachella Valley clubs are mentioned in this article, many are making similar adjustments.
•	'Even the Rich are Treating Their Houses Like Piggy Banks’ From the Wall Street Journal, this article discusses how even the very wealthy are tapping into large home equities at attractive rates.
•	'Layoffs prolong Luxury Housing Pain’ From Inman News: How the high-paying job cuts and layoffs on Wall Street are affecting the housing market on the east coast.
•	'Bank Owned Homes For Sale Above $1 Million in the Desert MLS’ Last month there were 5 bank owned homes priced above $1 million. Now there are 9! A home at Bighorn tops the list at $5.85M. There is 1 at Tradition and 1 at The Quarry, with 6 others not in club communities.
•	'The 10 Most Expensive Homes Sold in the Desert in October 2009, According to the Desert Area MLS’ October prices ranged from only $950,000 for a La Quinta home to a $2.2M home sold at Tradition. The top sales included 4 homes in Palm Springs, 3 in Rancho Mirage and 3 in La Quinta. And, 3 of the top sales were for less than $1 million.
•	Mortgage Rates as of 11/15/09.

As always, if you have any comments or input regarding this newsletter, or the real estate market in general, please feel free to call me at 760.779.1653 or send an email to Bruce@BruceBlomgren.com.

Sincerely,
Bruce