Pretty Maps of Housing Price "Collapse": Bay Area, Palm Springs

[drscott]

These appeared on Zillow a few weeks ago, and agree with the anecdotal understanding I have. People have complimented me on our excellent timing in selling our house in Sunnyvale (which was unintentional -- I just wanted to get out from under the maintenance), but the ironic bit is that it's actually worth about 5% more now. Desirable Bay Area properties are even higher than before the crash, while second-best houses, neighborhoods, and far-out areas attractive to lower middle class folks are in freefall.

Another data point: our friends John and Mark (who moved to Palm Springs last year, though Mark is here every week working) put their Atherton place up for sale at $4.195 million. It sold after two days on the market for much more than that. Since building the new house cost so much, they're not clearing anything like that amount, but still...

Some weakness in SoMa (where we might buy next) and half price sales in Cathedral City/Rancho Mirage (where we might also buy.)

Comments

[qbear.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...we're keeping an eye on Palm Springs too. I think Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage might be the best value right now. I know CC has a less-than-great rep, but parts of it are nice, I think. I used to feel we had to be in PS proper, but not so much anymore, given the great values to be had in the other cities. Not DHS or Yucky Valley, though--too far out.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

We have friends living at the CC/Rancho border and it takes 20 minutes to get to anything. At first it wasn't a problem, but it seems torturous when we visit. For the geography, I'd prefer to live in PS or CC. Of course, for the fabulous homes, I'd prefer to live in Indian Wells or Rancho.