Have we finally reached the bottom of the housing market? I wish I knew. I can say however, that here in La Quinta CA, buyers are coming out and picking off the cream of the crop. La Quinta may not be typical of the Southern California housing market in general, being largely second homes, retirement homes and vacation homes inside gated golfing communities, however recent activity sure does point to a housing market bottom or near bottom. 

Buyers right now, seem to be mostly interested in the "cream of the crop". They are not necessarily looking for the "best deal" but rather the most "desirable and attractive" home in terms of being totally designer, turn-key furnished right down to the silverware, having the most desirable views (usually being south or west views of the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains), and being in a desireable gated community. While many of the homes selling right now are priced at $1 million - $2 million and up, there has been a lot of recent activity in the $800,000 to $1.1 million dollar range. 

The challenge right now for real estate agents is to weed through the huge inventory of homes for sale, and find the real "gems". This requires a fair amount of upfront work in determining the buyer's price range, criteria and general likes and dislikes and then a lot of in-depth MLS research, prior to meeting with the buyers. However, this upfront work proves to be very productive when the actual property viewing process begins. Buyers are realizing now is the time to start picking of the cream of the crop, however the challenge is to find the cream of the crop for them.

Larry Hansen