Coachella Valley median home price hits all time high: $527,000

Prospective home buyers from Sacramento home check out a home up for sale in south Palm Desert. 

They're shopping in a valley market unlike any seen in the past.

"The whole desert area has been on my mind without exaggeration for 25 years, and now for the first time we are seriously considering it which is fun," said Jon Rosdail.

Rosdail and his wife Barb are among the prospective buyers in a very competitive valley market where the median price is up 22 percent over the past 12 months, even during the pandemic.

Another strike against them is inventory.

It's at its lowest in years with 902 single family homes currently on the market.

"The market is crazy,  it's one of the craziest markets we've seen ever with buyers flocking in to the Coachella Valley Palm Springs area," said Realtor Jeff Fishbein, owner of the Fishbein Real Estate Group. 

Fishbein says the key for the Rosdails and any buyer right now is to be ready to move quickly because of the intense competition.

Fishbein says about 20 percent of his buyers are all cash buyers.

He also says it's not uncommon for homes to receiver multiple offers. 

He knows of one property which received 14.

Favorable interest rates, slightly above last year's record lows are also a key factor in driving up record median home prices not only here in the valley but throughout Southern California. 

"A lot of these buyers are actually coming from coastal areas where they're not able to afford and are moving to the inland areas where home prices are a little bit more affordable," said Selma Hepp, Deputy Chief Economist for CoreLogic. 

Hepp expects local home prices to continue climbing at least through June, with the rate of appreciation slowing to about 6 percent.

She also expects interest rates to inch upward.

Hepp says another factor driving up home prices in the state is a critical shortage of new housing.