Palm Springs Luxury Housing Market Cools as Prices Fall and Sales Slow

For years, Palm Springs symbolised California's red-hot luxury housing boom, with affluent buyers snapping up second homes and vacation properties at record prices. That frenzy, fuelled by pandemic-era remote work and ultra-low mortgage rates is now fading. Housing prices are falling in California’s most sought-after luxury markets, with two upscale homes in Palm Springs seeing price cuts up to $70,000, according to a recent report. According to online property search marketplace Redfin, homes are typically taking 70 days to sell and, even then, for nearly three per cent below their asking price. Only about 9.6% of homes are selling above the listed price, in a competitive region, once soaring with demand. The New York Post reported that a recently built home reduced its asking price by $30,000, to $1.555 million. A steeper reduction of $40,000 was seen in another Palm Springs luxury property, whose asking price fell to $1.598 million. As per the New York Post, Palm Springs’ housing market has begun to settle after a major boom caused by increased buying activity during the pandemic. Low mortgage rates and a greater scope for remote work during the pandemic had reportedly led to high demand for second homes and vacation properties. This caused the region’s home prices to escalate quickly, leading to increasingly stronger competition among buyers. At present, the market is showing signs of balance. According to estimates by Zillow, the average value of a home in Palm Springs is nearly $619,600, which is a decline of 1.7 per cent from the previous year. Today, homes take approximately 56 days to go under contract. Additionally, the buying inventory has also grown, providing buyers with more options compared to what they had when the housing market peaked in the region.