Palm Springs, California Housing Market

How much can you negotiate in Palm Springs?

Only 27 out of every 100 homes for sale have found a buyer. The other 73 are still waiting. Your offer may be the only one on the table. About 1 in 5 sellers has already dropped their price. Each one has learned their first price was too high. Start below their new price, not their old one.

A typical Palm Springs home takes 70 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 90+ days ago. There are 703 homes for sale in Palm Springs. That is 6.5 times the tightest month on record, but below the peak of 891. Supply is shrinking against last year.

What to do about it

• Search Palm 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 Palm Springs?

Asking prices are 32.7% below their May 2022 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are still falling. Waiting has paid off so far. Let listings age, then come back lower. Palm Springs prices rose in only 65 of the last 108 months. This market goes up and down. Timing matters here. Growth will not rescue a bad price.

There is no rush. Prices are still coming down. Watch the homes you like. Come back after they cut. Let the seller move first.

Who will rent from you in Palm Springs?

In Palm Springs, 34 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. The renter share is shrinking. Five years ago it was 39 in 100. Palm Springs lost about 1,200 renter households in five years. Renter households average 1.9 people. Singles and couples rent here. Two bedrooms beat four.

Households grew 2% in five years. The housing stock shrank 4%. Demand is outrunning supply. 33.1% of homes sit empty. Tenants have options. Budget extra weeks of vacancy between leases.

The median Palm Springs household earns $74,423 a year. Incomes here have grown 7.1% a year since 2019. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving. A typical home costs 9.4 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 $1,861 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 Palm Springs deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +2.8%/yr. Palm Springs grew 6.4% a year over the decade. Ignore that rate. Most of it landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. Without the boom, Palm Springs grows about 2.8% a year. That is the number to type in. Prices fell 3.5% over the last year. That is a timing signal, not a trend.
• Months of carrying cost — 3. A typical home takes 70 days to sell. Budget that long when you exit or refinance.
• Odds you cut your price to sell — 1 in 5. About 18% of homes on the Palm 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 — $451/sqft. The typical Palm Springs listing shrank from 1,712 to 1,546 sqft since Jul 2016. So median price hides real growth: 85% per sqft versus 66% on the median. Comp on median price and you will overpay for small homes.
• Competition when you exit — -12%. 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 — 9.4×. A typical home costs 9.4 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 — $1,861/mo. 30% of the median household income of $74,423. Rents above this line shrink your tenant pool fast.

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

Yes, if you negotiate. Buyers have the upper hand in Palm Springs right now. 27 out of every 100 homes for sale have a buyer, 18% of sellers have cut their price, and a typical home takes 70 days to sell.

Are Palm Springs home prices going up or down?

Asking prices are 32.7% below their May 2022 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are still falling. Waiting has paid off so far. Let listings age, then come back lower.

What price growth should I assume for Palm Springs?

Assume +2.8% a year. Palm Springs grew 6.4% a year over the decade. Ignore that rate. Most of it landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. Without the boom, Palm Springs grows about 2.8% a year. That is the number to type in. Prices fell 3.5% over the last year. That is a timing signal, not a trend.

How fast are homes selling in Palm Springs?

A typical Palm Springs home takes 70 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 90+ days ago.

Is Palm Springs a renters' market or an owners' market?

In Palm Springs, 34 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. The renter share is shrinking. Five years ago it was 39 in 100. 33.1% of homes sit empty. Tenants have options. Budget extra weeks of vacancy between leases.

What rent can Palm Springs tenants afford?

A tenant on the median income can pay about $1,861 a month. That is the standard 30% affordability line. Rents above it thin your tenant pool fast. The median Palm Springs household earns $74,423 a year.