A Daily Shot of News

A mid-sized city of about 50,000 in the inland, desert Coachella valley, Indio, California, is in Riverside County about 125 miles east of L.A. After the credit crisis set in and began pummeling real estate markets across the country, the market for Indio real estate was dragged into the mess. It was hurt in 2008 and continued to see struggles throughout 2009, with prices nearly a quarter of what they were in the previous year. Nonetheless, 2010 shows plenty of room for improvement and early signs show this year may be the time for the market to slowly dig out of the hole its in.

In 2009, Indio saw 1,262 homes sold, the most of any city in the Coachella Valley, according to The Desert Real Estate Report’s statistics. The sales volume was encouraging, up 10% from 2008′s activity levels as the lower home prices allowed many buyers who were previously priced out of the market to seize up the lower-priced Indio real estate. The prices of Indio’s homes, however, showed continued signs of struggle. The yearly median price was $180,000, a full 20% lower than 2008′s median and the third-lowest median in the valley area. The annual average price, at just over $188,000, was off more than 25% year-over-year. This was typical of the Coachella Valley, as other cities saw prices fall by anywhere from 11% to 32%.

Despite those factors, early 2010 showed improvement in the Indio market. The month of February saw the city’s median price rise to $188,000, an increase over the same period last year, when it was just $180,000. February also accounted for a healthy number of sales, with 165 homes sold, according to MDA DataQuick Information Systems’ state statistics.

The condo market in Indio remained stuck with falling prices in February, however. The median price for an Indio condo in February was $50,000, down 10.6% from a year ago and down 16.7% from January. The average price for condos, however, was $80,300, a 17.1% improvement on the year prior. The condo statistics were based on nine condos sold in the month, an increase in activity of 28% from a year ago and besting January’s sales figures my 80%.

A suburban community near to the city of Phoenix, the Fountain Hills, Arizona, community is home to about 25,000 in Maricopa County. The community neighbors two Native American nations, and it was the eighth-fastest growing community in the state in the previous decade. It real estate market is varied and has suffered along with many others since 2008, when the U.S. began to experience financial problems that eventually spread to nearly every housing market nationwide.

In March, the Fountain Hills real estate saw sales activity spike, to 65 homes sold, a more than 50% increase from February, when there were just 31 sales, and up from just 40 sales one year ago. In addition, inventory was beginning to clear out, as the number of active listings fell. There were 359 active listings in April, down from 379 one month prior and down from 477 one year ago.

Sales prices of Fountain Hills homes for sale per square foot have taken a mostly steady course, with only slight increases and decreases over the past year. In March, the average price per square foot of a home for sale was $238, only slightly changed from February’s $239 and down from $282 from a year earlier. The average price per square foot of sold homes in March was $165, up from $164 in February and down from $166 a year ago.

Despite some of these signs of progress, foreclosures are still plaguing the Fountain Hills real estate market. In March there were 31 foreclosure notices filed, the highest figure since June and constant with last year’s 30. There were 19 foreclosure trustee sales in March, up from 13 a month earlier and matching January’s mark for the highest figure in a year. In March 2009, there were only six   foreclosure trustee sales in Fountain Hills.