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La Quinta
7.5%
2.1%Coachella Valley festival is consumer madness
The Coachella Valley Music & Arts festival has two sides to it.
Coachella Valley festival is consumer madness. So I went to Target on Friday! What was I thinking??? When you live here in the Coachella Valley year round, it’s easy to forget when the festival starts. Guilty. There were literally lines around the side of the store in the WILL CALL line. Then inside the store were more lines for IV hydration, and a make up booth, both with long lines. Wow! But the other thing I experienced was how happy, friendly, laughing and excited everyone in line was. The energy and smiles are infectious, and the outfits are fabulous! For me, the Coachella Festival was perfectly captured in this experience. Local resident and agent, Kim Kelly, can help you buy or sell your Coachella Valley property, 760-285-3578.
In todays LA Times Business section, there was a great article about how brands cash in on the Consumer wonderland, which is known as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. These next 3 weekends are power house sales weekends for local merchants, owners of short term vacation rentals, and event sites. As a local, it is a pain to deal with the additional traffic the festival brings in. I have to take a completely different route to the East Valley to ride, or to show land or farms, and I simply do not go grocery shopping unless there is zero in the house. BUT, I and the rest of us locals, completely get how important the festival is to our local economy.
I deal in multi acre event and equestrian sites throughout our Coachella Valley as well as houses of course. There haven’t been many deals in the multi acre sites, but I have noticed a huge decline in inventory overall in the past 6 months or so. The festival grounds on their own are special..and huge. Buyers looking for STVR properties are being very selective, and negotiating hard, often based on the past 2 years books associated with the property.
I suspect it’s part of the Coachella Valley festival party mentality to have a blast while in town, and also to absorb the amazing desert landscape and views. I’ve met many buyers over my 25 years as a realtor here in town who literally got interested in the valley because they drove around during the day before hitting festival to party! Take a look at this amazing 35 acre date farm and processing facility in Coachella Valley.
La Quinta real estate dynamics
La Quinta real estate dynamics; stats on the local market
La Quinta real estate dynamics. What’s happening in our local La Quinta real estate market for February over the month of February last year? Local resident and agent, Kim Kelly at 760-285-3578.
Single Family Homes, La Quinta
We had 72 sales, which is 25% less than Feb. of 2025
Median Price was up 43.1% over Feb of 2025 at $1,187,500.
Inventory is down 28.7% over Feb. of 2025 at just 432 units.
Days on market is down 27.6% over Feb. of last year.
Sales/List Price were down .9% at 96% vs. Feb of 2025
Sales above3 list price were at 23.6% which is down vs. Feb, 2025
Months of supply is down 33% at just 5.33 months
Median Sale price/sf at $420/sf is down .4% vs. Feb. of 2025
32% of homes sold within 30 days of listing, 50% were sold within 60 days of listing and 74% were sold within 90 days of listing.
Desert Rodeo Coming Soon!
Desert Rodeo, 2026 will be held April 24-26 in Thermal, CA
Desert Rodeo Coming Soon! Don’t miss it..back to year 2. A resounding success last year, April 24-26 will see the rodeo return to the eastern Coachella Valley. The 2026 Rodeo will be at the Desert International Horse Park (DIHP), 85555 Airport Blvd, Thermal, CA. Check out the details here. Local realtor, equestrian, Kim Kelly 760-285-3578
Our Eastern Coachella Valley is growing with each season, and 2026 has seen some new things happening. The Desert Rodeo is being held at the current showgrounds April 24-26. It was a resounding success last year, so it’s back bigger and better than ever.
The Coachella Valley is well known for it’s wide open spaces and equestrian pursuits. The world famous Coachella Festival is held at the former Empire Polo grounds along with the neighboring Eldorado Polo Club. The polo season has wrapped, horses are moved, and players have gone to their next venue. The green fields are now the setting for new art exhibits, temporary housing for all the festival goers and vendors, and it runs for the first 3 weekends of April. So, if you’re here for the Coachella Music Festival, add the Rodeo to your “things to do.”
If you are looking for a Coachella Valley home, equestrian property, event site, or vacant land, give me a call at 760-285-3578.
Short Sale Just Listed
Short Sale; 83399 Wagon Road, Indio Shadow Ranch gated community
Short Sale Just Listed: 83399 Wagon Road, Indio, California. Located in the gated, low HOA community of Shadow Ranch. Built in 2005, this 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, single level pool home is just $550,000. If you are looking to get out from under a mortgage on your primary residence that you can no longer pay, give local agent and experienced short sale specialist, Kim Kelly a call to talk about it at 760-295-3578.
Located just East of Jackson St., the gated community of Shadow Ranch offers single and dual level single family homes. Lots of shopping is easily accessible to the community, and the HOA’s are low at $162/month.
83399 Wagon Road features a gated front courtyard entry, with the main home in front of you and the casita to the right off it’s own walkway. The main home entry opens to a dining area on the left and a den area on the right. Straight ahead is the living room with fireplace and beautiful kitchen with granite slab counters, full backsplash, island with storage, and stainless steel appliances. There is a breakfast nook that opens to the backyard which is lovely. Covered porch to pool with waterfall feature and spa. There are also citrus trees! This one won’t last long.
Waterfall pool and spa in the backyard.
Short Sale; CLOSED!
Cathedral City Short Sale; CLOSED!
Short Sale; CLOSED! Short Sales are coming back. I just closed one in Cathedral City, and am listing another one in North Indio tomorrow. These sellers did not pull a bunch of equity out of their homes as some people think these sellers do, they simply are having economic difficulties. If you are thinking of a short sale, give me a call at 760-285-3578. I’ve worked dozens of them, and it appears we’re heading for another short sale wave!
This was an ideal situation for me as a short sale listing agent. The owner had already contacted his lender, discussed his mortgage modification or short sale options, and had the property listed as a standard sale for over 60 days. When the seller contacted me to take over the sale as a short sale, we had an offer in place with buyers who understood through their agent and myself, what a short sale entails.
Remember that in a short sale, you DO get a reduced price over the market value. As a short sale buyer, you must be prepared with your lender or cash, to act quickly, yet you may have to be very patient too. It’s a process to get the offer to the company that holds the note, (often FNMAE). Once they go over the numbers, they will approve the short sale. Then I move to the Lien servicer, who also has to approve the short sale. Once they approve it, it may still take weeks to get the final approval letter. It’s quite a process, but if you have the patience, and are qualified, short sales mean a DEAL for you!
I have a new Short Sale coming up over the weekend in Shadow Ranch in north Indio. Gated community, low HOA, homes build in 2005/2006. This one is a 5 bedroom (including a detached casita + bathroom), 4.5 bathroom home with a pool/spa, remodeled kitchen and just under 3000 sf. I don’t have a tour yet, but here are a few photos..
Short sale coming in a few days in North Indio
City of La Quinta fiscal updates
The city of la quinta has some amazing housing opportunities
City of La Quinta fiscal updates: The city of La Quinta just held it’s 13th community workshop, and surprise to nobody, the city is financially sound and well positioned to handle economic downturns, natural disasters or other unforeseen events. Local resident and agent, Kim Kelly lives and sells in La Quinta, 760-285-3578.
The city of La Quinta is ranked #7 out of 410 cities ranked by California Policy Center’s Fiscal Health Dashboard, putting it in the top 2% nationwide, and the ONLY city in the Coachella Valley ranked in the top 10! I live here in La Quinta, and have for many years. I show and sell in all the desert cities and appreciate it’s uniqueness, but La Quinta is just so pretty, and open.
- IID: New substations are moving forward. Cost share agreements are coming for the City and developers for the Ave. 58 substation, scheduled for completion in 2028.
- Affordable housing: The city has 3 parcels near 111 slated for up to 587 affordable housing units. Cost is approx. $700,000/door, so not a small expense
- Fritz Burns Park improvements are mostly complete or near to complete. What a beautiful park with lap pool, tennis and pickleball courts, and walkable to Old Town La Quinta.
- Road improvement projects: Next summer will see the more improvements, and Hwy 111 was done last summer. Resurfacing in the La Quinta cove is ongoing.
Take a tour of this gorgeous La Quinta home that sold, but there are many more available in this gorgeous city!
East Coachella Valley power
The Eastern Coachella Valley is getting more power!
East Coachella valley power. Our Coachella Valley is growing! The Eastern Coachella Valley is very familiar to farmers, growers, and equestrians because that’s where all the open land is! Acres and acres of open space. If you are looking to buy or sell vacant land, investment opportunities, equestrian properties, event sites, or residential, give local agent and equestrian, Kim Kelly a call at 760-285-3578.
Significant power infrastructure upgrades are coming to the East Coachella Valley, with a new substation project expected to be completed by summer 2028. This $50 million investment by the Imperial Irrigation District includes constructing a new substation to serve roughly 8,000 customers in the growing region, with construction starting in early 2027. This would be on the Thousand Palms substation. There is another substation that is planned to serve La Quinta and the east valley, and it’s going to be located on 58th st., and scheduled completion along with the Thousand Palms substation, in 2028.
I keep running into potential developers looking to do a project and they simply cannot get power. Well, if they put in their own substation (Maybe 15 mil??), they can get power, but otherwise, the wait time was a long time away and vague. Now, at least we are being told it will maybe have two new substations completed by 2028.
- Timeline: Construction on the new substation is scheduled to begin in early 2027, with an anticipated in-service date by summer 2028.
- Scope: The project is designed to support rapid residential and commercial growth in the area.
- Improvements: The initiative is part of a larger effort to enhance energy reliability and capacity in the East Valley.
- Regional Collaboration: The Coachella Valley Energy Commission (CVEC) and the recently formed Coachella Valley Power Agency (CVPA) are coordinating with IID to meet increasing energy demands.
Take a tour of this amazing 35 acre corner parcel on 52nd/Van Buren, already zoned for commercial and medium density residential, though currently an active date processing facility, 8 million.
Vacant Land Fraud Alert
Vacant Land Fraud Alert
Vacant Land Fraud Alert: So, this may be something that is happening in all locales that deal with vacant land, but here in the Coachella Valley for sure! The CDAR (Calif. desert assn. of realtors), sent out an alert for agents to be aware that there is alot of fraud happening with a scam concerning vacant land sales. If you are looking to buy or sell in the Coachella Valley, land ranches or residential, give local agent, Kim Kelly a call at 760-285-3578.
I’ve been involved with two of these land scams recently. Last quarter of 2025, I was representing a group of sellers, who were not who they appeared to be. The buyers cancelled in their due diligence period, and their earnest monies were returned by escrow, BUT it could’ve gone very bad. Then just a couple weeks ago, another vacant land seller who was not the REAL seller.
Apparently, if a vacant piece of land, is owned by a seller of many years, not protected in a trust, or LLC, it is wide open for these scams. In this last case, the buyers money had been deposited into escrow, when the list agent called to alert me that the notary seal on the grant deed was fraudulent! Again, it was caught, buyers monies were returned, no harm, no foul. I do wonder if the true seller ever did show up, or perhaps is dead???
So, buyers, sellers, agents, be aware! It’s not that easy to tell you are dealing with the real owner, if your seller is out of state or out of the country. This is a 9.8 acre date farm that I just closed. I represented the seller, who was REAL!
Polo & Horseshow update; Coachella Valley
Polo & Horseshow update for Coachella Valley
Polo & Horseshow update; Coachella Valley. We are about mid season for both the Polo Club and the Desert International Horse Park show jumping circuits for 2026. The Horseshow grounds are teaming with horses, competitors, exhibits, and visitors. It’s a ton of fun. The Eldorado Polo Club has tournament games every week, and of course weekends through the end of March, then make way for the Coachella Music Festival! Local equestrian and agent, Kim Kelly has area farms, lands and residential properties available, call at 760-285-3578.
The Horseshow entrance is right off of Airport Blvd., easy to find, and clearly marked. If you like equestrian themed shopping, it’s a winner. If you just like seeing beautiful horses and their riders competing in the desert sunshine at all levels, stop in and see the classes! February 2/17-22, the Desert Circuit 7 classes, sponsored by Spotlight 29 Casino, gets underway featuring Premier Hunters/Level 6 jumpers. It’s a good time, and not expensive, well other than the food…
The Eldorado Polo Club is the site of multiple games every Saturday and Sunday, open to the public. Games have been very well attended, last Sunday saw the noon game feature two 6-goal teams competing in the month long 6 goal League play. The featured 2 pm Sunday game on Field 1 is always fun, and showcases two of the 12 goal teams, which is our highest level at the club. Come by, bring your friends, pack a lunch, enjoy the game, the announcer, food and beverages, and what a view! A unique way to spend a Sunday here in the Coachella Valley. A practice game at the Eldorado Polo Club..
