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5 of 6 Desert Cities Show 2011 Sales Increases So Far In 2011!

Indian Springs Country Club, Indio

Palm Springs area home sales continue to be strong in most local cities as buyers continue to take advantage of bargain prices and low interest rates.

Year To Date Sales Leaders By City (Jan 1 – Aug 19, 2011)

  • Palm Springs: 1,157 sales (compared to 1,151 in 2010)
  • La Quinta: 958 homes sold (922 in 2010)
  • Palm Desert: 950 homes sold (887 in 2010)
  • Rancho Mirage: 490 homes sold (453 in 2010)
  • Indian Wells: 185 homes sold (154 in 2010)
  • Indio: 817 homes sold (882 in 2010)

Indio was the only city showing an overall sales decline in 2011, which could reflect a near bottoming out in prices and/or a tightening inventory of entry-level homes.

Data from the Desert Area MLS as of 8/20/2011

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog
New Construction on Luxury Resort at SilverRock in La Quinta

New Construction on Luxury Resort at SilverRock in La Quinta

La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans breaks ground with Montage International and Pendry Hotels developers for La Quinta's Silverrock Resort development project, Monday, May 1, 2017. (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun

La Quinta crossed a milestone more than 15 years in the making Monday morning with a groundbreaking ceremony at SilverRock, marking the start of development on a luxury resort that brings the Montage brand to the Coachella Valley.

More than 100 people sat along the 18th fairway of the existing golf course, which will remain part of the resort, – a prime view of the Santa Rosa Mountains before them – for the ceremony, including city staff, all current council members and former members Terry Henderson and Lee Osborne, as well as past Mayor Don Adolph.

“I am over the top excited to have today happen,” Mayor Linda Evans said.

The groundbreaking marks a major step forward in the development of a project that has seen years of delays, due to the Great Recession followed by loss of redevelopment funds and the need to bring in a new developer, which the council did in November 2014 with approval of a contract with The Robert Green Co.

The project includes two luxury hotels which are scheduled to open simultaneously in October 2019.

READ MORE: Montage ties name to resort

With the groundbreaking comes the closure of the back nine holes of the Arnold Palmer-designed golf course to begin realignment of three holes to make room for the Montage La Quinta 140-room “five-star” quality hotel.

The second hotel is a 200-room Pendry – Montage’s newest brand.

“It’s the first opportunity to build a Montage and a Pendry side-by-side and it took a very unique location … to do that,” said Alan Fuerstman, Montage founder, chairman and CEO.

“But the appeal of this market and this destination for both brands is so strong, it was a logical conclusion” to bring both, said Fuerstman, whose hospitality career started in Rancho Mirage.

Pendry is a new brand for the Irvine-based Montage International with just two other hotels open – in San Diego and Baltimore.

Fuerstman's son, Michael, heads the Pendry brand, and described it as “ultra-luxury” for the younger, active but well-traveled customer.

Construction will begin from this site for La Quinta's Silverrock Resort development project, Monday, May 1, 2017. (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun)

The golf course realignment will start soon, said John Gamlin, of La Quinta, who has been with the project since the beginning and will be the local face for Green throughout development.

The improvements must be completed and the course fully reopened by Nov. 1, according to the agreement with the city. The front nine holes will remain open throughout the realignment.

The mass grading for the hotels, conference center and other amenities is expected to start in the fall, followed by the building of the infrastructure, Gamlin said.

GETTING OUT: La Quinta getting out of golf business

The city’s redevelopment agency purchased the then-vacant SilverRock land in 2002 with a vision for a luxury resort with hotels, two 18-hole golf courses and more. The existing golf course opened in 2005.

La Quinta views the development as a major source of revenue that will help secure the city’s financial future, through hotel, property and sales taxes. The city has projected revenue from SilverRock will be well above $50 million in the first 15 years, even with a bed tax sharing agreement with the developer. To date, the city has seen about $40,000 developer impact fees.

Rosemary Genovese, mother of the late Tom Genovese, who was city manager when SilverRock was conceived, was also present. Genovese died while hiking in 2011.

“I think it’s going to be beautiful,” she said. “Very different from the original but … I think it will be a wonderful project for our city. I just wish Tom and Arnie (Palmer) could have been here.”

Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at [email protected] or (760) 778-4694. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherry

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Real Estate Market Updates
Palm Springs Area Home Buyers Going Nuts As Sales Increase Again!

Palm Springs Area Home Buyers Going Nuts As Sales Increase Again!

La Quinta golf course home patio

Well, maybe our desert homebuyers aren’t actually going nuts but our local sales trends and our sales activity this year seem to be very contrary to what’s going on elsewhere in the country.

Why do you think buyers keep coming to the Palm Springs Real Estate market while most other real estate markets in the U.S. are flat or in decline? I’m going to take a wild guess that maybe it is due to 350 days of sun a year, beautiful desert vistas showcased by two mountain ranges, over 150 golf courses, low housing prices, or a combination of all of the above.

Palm Springs Real Estate Sales Up 6% In May

Fact is home sales in the Coachella Valley rose six percent (6%) in May in contrast to double-digit sales declines in the rest of Southern California and most of the nation. Condo sales were up a whopping 29.2% compared to May of 2010.

It seems that buyers of second homes are fueling the rise in sales. Buyers from other areas of California as well as from throughout the nation and other countries are all contributing to this surge in sales of second homes.

Foreign Buyers Helping To Stroke Desert Home Sales

USA Today reports “foreign buyers are helping to stroke home sales in U.S. vacation spots.” Top buying locations were in Sunbelt areas of Florida, Phoenix and California. Canadian home buyers accounted for the largest share of foreign buyers accounting for 25% of sales followed by Chinese buyers at 9%.

Many buyers are negotiating bargain prices and paying cash rather that choosing to let their money earn low interest rates in banks. For those interested in financing, historically low interest rates are still available.

If you're considering having your own place in the sun next winter, now is a great time to start making your plans. Please don't hesitate to contact me–even with a simple real estate question.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Real Estate Market Updates
Resale Home Sales Continue To Be A Great Value

Resale Home Sales Continue To Be A Great Value

Waterfront condos at PGA West in La Quinta

It may surprise you that of the 4,800 homes sold during the first five months of 2011 in the Coachella Valley, only 160 were new construction homes. Do you think price and value had anything to do with these stats?

There are a few communities we identified where new homes are still a good value. Some developers are still able to compete with resale prices and I’m happy to share that information with you. But, in general, we continue to find resale homes and condos to be a better value than newly constructed homes in today’s real estate market.

New Homes Usually Optioned To The Max

In a resale home what you see is usually what you get. All the options and upgrades that the original buyer invested in are usually included. In contrast, new model homes are often optioned to the max and many features are considered extras and not included in the base price of the newly built homes. So, If you choose a new home, you’ll want to be sure that all options and potential extras are spelled out in writing and broken down line by line. My team and I have helped buyers in a number of new home communities at no charge since the seller handles our service fee.

Helping You Discover A Great Home Value

Consider myself and my team as part real estate guide, part number cruncher and part negotiator. We combine these skills on a daily basis to help our buyers discover great values. My team and I view hundreds of homes in dozens of golf and country club communities and non-golf communities every year and we stay up to date on changing home and condo inventory throughout the desert. In short, our job is to help you discover a great value.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me when the time is right – even if you have a simple real estate question.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Real Estate Market Updates

Hot Buy Suggestions: 30% Off At Palmilla La Quinta

2,894 Square Feet / 3 bedrooms & 4 baths on the water.
Previously sold for $1,000,000. Now Offered at $719,900

This waterfront contemporary home at Palmilla in La Quinta was purchased in '07 for $1 million. Offered today at $719,900 this home was just listed today. Please call for details.

Short Sale Listing courtesy of REO Sales & Associates. Short sale subject to prior sale and bank approval.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog

Dining Around The Desert: La Brasserie, La Quinta


Chef/Owner Emmanuel Janin & his family

Brasserie, the French term for brewery, refers to an unpretentious restaurant that serves drinks and classic Parisian bistro food. Newly opened this year, La Brasserie is a welcome addition to the La Quinta restaurant scene. Chef owner Emmanuel Janin and his wife Kara have succeeded in bringing a traditional French bistro to La Quinta and offer friendly service, reasonable prices and tasty food.

While my husband Bill and I find a few of the French dishes on the heavy side, we enjoyed some of the lighter fare over the course of our three visits. The Graved Lax from the appetizer menu is worth a repeat visit as is the Artisanal cheese platter with fig compote, honeycomb and seasonal garnish.

Bill enjoyed the six-hour brine pork chop with Chipotle mashed potato, grilled asparagus and Coachella Valley date chutney. That said, Bill still rates Lavender Bistro in La Quinta as serving the best pork chop in the valley to date.

The La Brasserie menu offers a good selection of meat, fish and poultry as well as several wonderful salad choices. Their Seafood Bar offers a selection of oysters and shellfish with a variety of sauces. We found the extensive wine list to offer reasonably priced selections, as well.

> View ALL Desert Dining Suggestions Here

La Brasserie Bistro & Bar is open year round and is located at 78-477 Highway 111 in La Quinta at the corner of Washington Street and Highway 111 and adjacent to the Beer Hunter. (760) 771-4400

Update on 2011-10-22 20:51 by Sheri Dettman

Two return visits this month to La Brasserie. And now that the weather has cooled a bit we enjoyed dining on the patio which featured a pianist on the nights we visited.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Dining Around The Desert
Selling Your Home: How To Maximize Your Selling Price

Selling Your Home: How To Maximize Your Selling Price

When most sellers interview real estate agents about selling their home, many get caught up in the process of choosing a sales price. The thought of receiving additional money for your home is a no brainer. Unfortunately many uniformed sellers often choose the listing agent who suggests the highest listing price. Realtors call this scenario ‘buying the listing’. These agents are hoping to sign the listing and then worry about getting the price reduced to the actual market value over the coming months when the seller doesn’t receive an offer.

Establishing The Right Value For Your Property

Truth is, the person whose opinion matters most is the buyer who makes an offer to purchase your property. Properties priced to high receive no offers. Properties priced a little to low generally receive multiple offers thereby driving the price up by receiving offers up to the real market value. There is little danger in pricing a home too low. The danger lies in over pricing and selecting your selling agent solely on their opinion of a higher value.

An agent’s job is to price the home competitively based on the most recent sales comps. Pricing a home is part science, part art and a whole lot of local market experience. It involves a combination of comparing similar properties, tracking the most recent market movement, evaluating current inventory and making adjustments for any differences between comparable properties.

Some Agents Specialize In Expired Listings

Hundreds of agents here in the Palm Springs area real estate market actually make their living by contacting the sellers of expired listings and then relisting these properties at market value. This process is called ‘re-packaging’ an overpriced property. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t be the owner of an expired listing.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Selling - Info For Sellers
WestJet Adds Winnipeg Service To Palm Springs

WestJet Adds Winnipeg Service To Palm Springs

WestJet announced this week that it will begin additional service to Palm Springs International Airport from Winnipeg, Canada. My thinking is that this is a great public service that should help to warm Canadian’s up during the coming winter.

The new flights are in addition to seasonal flights already flying from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto.


Not The Palm Springs Airport!

Service from Winnipeg will start December 15th with fares from $219. Flights to WestJet’s hub in Calgary will be increased to two daily round-trips during the peak tourist season.

In the Palm Springs market alone WestJet has seen the number of passengers it serves rise to 120,205 in the first six months of 2011.

Will keep the sunscreen out for you!

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers
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