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.

What numbers should you underwrite a Palm Springs deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +2.8%/yr. 1 year: -3.5% · 5 years: +2.8% · ten years: +6.4%. Do not use the ten-year rate. Most of that growth landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. The five-year rate is what Palm Springs does without one. Underwrite closer to +2.8%. Measure growth per square foot. Palm Springs median list price grew 5.3% a year, but price per square foot grew 6.4%. The gap is smaller homes, not weaker growth. The house you buy will not shrink. The one-year rate is a timing signal. It is not an underwriting input.
• 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.

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. 0.27 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?

+2.8%/yr. 1 year: -3.5% · 5 years: +2.8% · ten years: +6.4%. Do not use the ten-year rate. Most of that growth landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. The five-year rate is what Palm Springs does without one. Underwrite closer to +2.8%. Measure growth per square foot. Palm Springs median list price grew 5.3% a year, but price per square foot grew 6.4%. The gap is smaller homes, not weaker growth. The house you buy will not shrink. The one-year rate is a timing signal. It is not an underwriting input.

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.