Southwest Arts Festival Jan 27-29, 2012
The Empire Polo Grounds in Indio CA will once again host the Southwest Arts Festival now in its’ 26th year. This international art show draws 250 plus artists and features everytype of medium. From Posters and pottery to art glass and sculptures. Admission is charged but there are package and three day passes available. See the Southwest Arts Festival site for more information.
This event is sponsored by the Indio Chamber of Commerce
Humana Challenges Replaces Bob Hope Classic for 2012 Forward
The 52 year old tournament – part of the PGA Tour – has a new name – new corporate sponsor and a relationship with the Clinton Foundation. The new name and format is coupled with a new focus on health and wellness.
This years event will run from January 16-22nd 2012 and as usual will benefit Desert Classic Charities. To Honor the dedication and legacy of Bob Hope there will be a newly created Bob Hope Trophy. Over the lifetime of the Tournament more than $50 Million dollars has been raised with a large percentage of that going to fund Eisenhower Hospital.
The Tournament will return to PGA West in La Quinta and the La Quinta Country Club course but drop the use of the Silver Rock Resort Course. Other changes include a reduction to a four day tournament, and one of the 4 rounds being Pro only. An estimated 144 professional golfers will participate in the event.
This exciting national Golf event will once again bring all eyes on the Desert and our enviable lifestyle and beautiful surroundings. Don’t miss it.
2011 Final Sales Numbers IN!
2011 Sales Statistics
For The Coachella ValleyArea
9706 total unit sales Homes/Condos
The year that just ended was a very busy year for Real Estate. While Short sales and foreclosures made up close to 50% of the market there were still many traditional sales taking place
Counting the Cities from Palm Springs to Mecca we saw 7,338 single family homes sell in 2011. Almost a quater of those – 24.05% – sold in 30 days or less. Another 34.98% – took between 30 and 90 days to sell.
The median sales price for single family homes was $190,750. Not surprisingly the homes that sold in 30 days or less achieved 97% of their asking price, however the bigger surprise may be that homes on the market for 120 days or more still achieved 92% of their asking prices.
To contrast these numbers with 2010 the percentage of list price achieved went up year over year – in 2010 it was only 93%, so 4% beter in 2011. The total number of homes sold was down but only by 25 units however, the median sales price was down 15K over 2010 when it was $205,000.
Looking at Condo sales in 2011: We saw 2368 total units sell The median price for those was $173,750. Asking price vs. actual sales price percentages were in a tight range between 92% and 94%. The most telling thing in this category was the days on market – or time it took to sell a condo. Almost half 48.3% of the units took over 120 days to sell. Buyer resistance to homeowners fees and more difficulty qualifying for a loan were the primary culprits here.
There were 5 homes sold in 2011 over 5 million dollars in the valley. One at the Hideaway one at Bighorn in Palm Desert and 2 at the Vintage. The winner for top sales price was a 7.6 million dollar estate in The Madison.
See Luxury Properties In The Desert
With the vastly reduced inventory (only 4858 homes and condos valley wide) 2012 promises to be a very competitive year for home buyers in the Coachella Valley especially in the more popular price points. Most well priced properties are once again seeing multiple offer situations.
Happy New Year!
Wishing you all the best in the New Year
Thoughts for the New Year
If you are very rich but very unhappy does the money really matter?
If you are very beautiful but very unkind does your beauty really matter to anyone?
If you have everything you want but cannot share with others less fortunate, what good are those things?
Life is about sharing our blessings.
International Film Festival Starts New Year Off Right
The New Year will once again start off with a Bang as all eyes turn to the Palm Springs International Film Festival now in its’ 23rd Year! Many people don’t know that the event was founded 23 years ago by the late Sonny Bono, then mayor of Palm Springs. Last year, it is said, that about 130,000 people attended the festival.
The film festival starts with the opening night film “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” which stars Ewan McGregor as a scientist trying to introduce salmon fishing to the country of Yemen. This is the American debut of the film and is a great example of the treats in Store for Festival goers. This year the Festival will show 187 films from 73 countries and of these 61 are premieres. Impressive.
The much anticipated Star studded awards gala will be held on Jan. 7 at the Convention Center. The honorees include George Clooney, Stephen Daldry, Glenn Close, Diablo Cody, Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Michelle Williams, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, and Gary Oldman.
Palm Springs has a nice selection of Film Festivals throughout the year for a complete list see our web page about Film Festivals in Palm Springs.
For more information on use this link The Palm Springs International film festival go to their site
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas
New Airline Service To palm Springs
December 15th marked the inaugural flight to Palm Springs for Virgin Americas new service. The Flight serves San Francisco 
with same plane continuing service to New York. This is an exciting development for Palm Springs. Virgin America is known for great service and extra amenities, such as wifi and in seat entertainment for all passengers, on their flights. Palm Springs residents and visitors should enjoy having the important New York/East Coast market so easy to reach. With the additional promotion of Virgin America it is sure to Boost travel and tourism to the Coachella Valley.
The schedule is set to continue through April 30th of 2012.
See the Interactive route map on the Palm Springs Airport Website
This Month In Real Estate
Palm Springs Featured In Travel and Leisure
The December 2011 issue of Travel + Leisure magazine has a great 
article on Palm Springs.
Starting on page 176 the article is more than the usual top ten list of Palm Springs attractions. There is also an emphasis on the attractions of our nearby High Desert.
Checking on-line I could not find the article posted on the magazines website yet – so you will have to pick up your own copy to check it out.
Parade Of Lights Dec 3rd
One of the real treats of the holiday season is always the Parade of Lights in Palm Springs, now in its’ 20th year. This year reserve Saturday night the 3rd of December for your trip to see this amazing display. So stake out your spot on Palm Canyon drive because all the fun starts at 5:45pm This years Grand Marshal is Carol Channing.
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