Our market expert Susan Eidler reports that, with the start of the new year and the beginning of warmer weather in the desert, more buyers will be coming to the Desert Golf Communities.

This desert resort area has 9 different towns, each with its own complexity and offers a slice of Riverside county without the traffic and noise.

Though there is a lot of scary news going around about the housing industry, Susan says there are still good reasons to buy right now, including:

• Interest rates are the lowest they've been for the last 4 years.

• There is more inventory to choose from.

• And buyers have great negotiating power in the market.

Susan thinks there will be continuing pressure on the price of homes, as the MLS is running about 9 percent off the asking price.

Dollars per square foot, depending on the town and community, are off from 4 to 8 percent.

The luxury market is feeling much less tightening than the rest of the market, Susan says. The fact that there are very few foreclosures in these golf communities will help stabilize prices in the near future.

And since the luxury market accounts for 14 percent of homes sold in this area, the median home price should show an increase each month.

Published: February 4, 2008

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