Desert home values drying up, says broker/appraiser

Palm Springs, Calif., appraiser and real estate broker Barry Noble says in a blog post that the Coachella Valley's desert resort cities will likely continue a "notable decline" in home values for at least the next 18 months. "It is a normal market cycle," he notes, given inflated values of the housing boom, though the "subprime debacle is only making it more severe than a typical decline."

He adds, "If you've been advised to wait until new season to list your house at the old price you had it listed for sale in early 2007, assume that was 'bad advice' and other bad advice often follows bad advice. Waiting will only result in yet an even lower value. You might consider sitting and holding the property -- or rent it out -- two good moves if you can wait until at least into 2009 for a stabilizing market at its lower dip of the market cycle -- or to late 2009, early 2010 for a potential rising market again. Don't sit on the market for months with a now unreasonable asking price -- wasting your time as the home drops further in value."

The message seems to be: Don't sell if you don't need to and if you need to sell, sell now even if selling now means selling low because selling later means selling lower unless you can wait even longer to sell higher. Easy decisions, right?

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