The Canadians are here..the Canadians are here! That’s what we locals say every Winter now..it’s changed from “The Snowbirds are here..” As a largely Resort Community, we are very happy every winter season when out of towners flock to our warm, winter weather. As a local, I love the slower pace of life, the lesser levels of traffic and the “local” feel to dining and dancing during the hot summers. But..I also LOVE the winter influx of our seasonal friends.
Vancouver, and Calgary, Canada, seem to be sending droves of Buyers to our extremely affordable Valley. The harsh Canadian winters become a distant memory once they step off the plane, and the warm temperatures welcome them to the Palm Springs Valley. With average winter temperatures of approx. 80 degrees and nightly lows of only 40-50 degrees, it’s a perfect place to spent your winter months, vacation, or retire in. Many of us live here year round and I for one, find that my blood is thinner than my Canadian friends! I’ll bundle up in a sweatshirt, but my Canadian clients will be sporting golf shirts or a light cotton tee!
Along with Canadians, who know a deal when they see one, we are seeing a huge increase in International Investors. Buyers from China, Asia, France, England..pretty much everywhere are ending up in the Desert. Our Real Estate Values have never been so good, and with golf, tennis, hiking, equestrian events, dining and dancing..there just isn’t much to miss!
The building mania of 2002-2006 hit our valley hard. We were a perfect storm, with land relatively inexpensive and lots of it, developers saw an opportunity and took it. That means that when the downtown hit..2007-2010, prices fell to 30-50% below the peak. It doesn’t make much sense any more to build a home..even an extremely custom one, when you can buy a resale with ALL the bells and whistles for a lower price/sf than a builder can build it for! What???
If you are waiting for a great time to invest in our Palm Springs Valley real estate, now is it. Luxury homes are selling like crazy and are expected to move even faster during 2012. Why? People that buy Luxury homes are able to buy up to 3x as much house than they can at home..whether it’s Canada or China. Plus..where else to park some money where you can actually enjoy it?
Come on out and visit..you will most likely stay for a long while!
image: photoshelter.com