Desert Hot Springs, California Housing Market

How much can you negotiate in Desert Hot Springs?

Only 31 out of every 100 homes for sale have found a buyer. The other 69 are still waiting. Your offer may be the only one on the table. Few sellers are dropping their price. Asking prices are holding firm. Your discount will come from one stale listing, not from the whole market.

A typical Desert Hot Springs home takes 76 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. That is 18% slower than a year ago. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 90+ days ago. There are 200 homes for sale in Desert Hot Springs. That is 3.6 times the tightest month on record, but below the peak of 229. Supply is shrinking against last year.

What to do about it

• Search Desert Hot Springs homes listed 90+ days ago that have already cut their price.
• Offer below the reduced price.
• Keep your inspection and financing contingencies.
• Ask the seller to pay closing costs.
• You can lose a few offers here and still win.

Is now a good time to buy in Desert Hot Springs?

Asking prices are 9.7% below their Mar 2024 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are rising again. Every month you wait costs money. The question is no longer when. It is which house. Desert Hot Springs prices have risen in 83 of the last 108 months. Drops here have been short and shallow. Buying in a slow month has rarely hurt a long hold.

This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.

Who will rent from you in Desert Hot Springs?

In Desert Hot Springs, 37 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. The renter share is shrinking. Five years ago it was 45 in 100. Renter households here average 2.7 people. Families rent here. Buy bedrooms, not studios.

Households grew 11% in five years. The housing stock shrank 2%. Demand is outrunning supply. 17.6% of homes sit empty. Tenants have options. Budget extra weeks of vacancy between leases.

The median Desert Hot Springs household earns $52,460 a year. Incomes here have grown 8.0% a year since 2019. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving. A typical home costs 8.8 times the median income. Most locals cannot buy. That keeps rental demand deep. It also caps the rent they can pay. A tenant on the median income can pay about $1,312 a month. That is the standard 30% affordability line. Rents above it thin your tenant pool fast.

That is the market, not your address. Run an address through the app to see its rent estimate and cash flow.

What numbers should you underwrite a Desert Hot Springs deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +2.8%/yr. Desert Hot Springs grew 7.5% a year over the decade. Ignore that rate. Most of it landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. Without the boom, Desert Hot Springs grows about 2.8% a year. That is the number to type in. Prices fell 2.9% over the last year. That is a timing signal, not a trend.
• Months of carrying cost — 3. A typical home takes 76 days to sell. Budget that long when you exit or refinance. It is 18% slower than a year ago.
• Odds you cut your price to sell — 1 in 6. About 16% of homes on the Desert Hot Springs market right now have already cut their asking price. Assume you are one of them when you sell. Do not underwrite an exit at your asking price.
• Comp on this, not median price — $261/sqft. The average listing runs +6% above the median. Luxury homes skew it. Comp your own size class per sqft.
• Competition when you exit — -9%. That is how much the number of homes for sale shrank in a year. Your resale will face a smaller crowd than today's comps did.
• Price-to-income ratio — 8.8×. A typical home costs 8.8 times the median income. Most locals cannot buy. That keeps rental demand deep. It also caps the rent they can pay. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving.
• Tenant rent ceiling — $1,312/mo. 30% of the median household income of $52,460. Rents above this line shrink your tenant pool fast.

Is Desert Hot Springs a buyer's or seller's market in 2026?

Yes, if you negotiate. Buyers have the upper hand in Desert Hot Springs right now. 31 out of every 100 homes for sale have a buyer, 16% of sellers have cut their price, and a typical home takes 76 days to sell.

Are Desert Hot Springs home prices going up or down?

Asking prices are 9.7% below their Mar 2024 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are rising again. Every month you wait costs money. The question is no longer when. It is which house.

What price growth should I assume for Desert Hot Springs?

Assume +2.8% a year. Desert Hot Springs grew 7.5% a year over the decade. Ignore that rate. Most of it landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. Without the boom, Desert Hot Springs grows about 2.8% a year. That is the number to type in. Prices fell 2.9% over the last year. That is a timing signal, not a trend.

How fast are homes selling in Desert Hot Springs?

A typical Desert Hot Springs home takes 76 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. That is 18% slower than a year ago. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 90+ days ago.

Is Desert Hot Springs a renters' market or an owners' market?

In Desert Hot Springs, 37 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. The renter share is shrinking. Five years ago it was 45 in 100. 17.6% of homes sit empty. Tenants have options. Budget extra weeks of vacancy between leases.

What rent can Desert Hot Springs tenants afford?

A tenant on the median income can pay about $1,312 a month. That is the standard 30% affordability line. Rents above it thin your tenant pool fast. The median Desert Hot Springs household earns $52,460 a year.