According to the Los Angeles Times article in the January 22, 2007 Business Section, the Palm Springs area in general and Rancho Mirage in particular are now looking like a year ‘round destination rather than just a seasonal escape from the cold or monotony.

Although the local real estate market has taken a breather after 3-4 years of rapid acceleration, we’re starting to see buyers taking serious looks at the large inventory of prime properties.

With this new view towards our desert, it won’t take long for the baby boomers and snow birds to realize that this lull won’t last forever. Just like what happened in 2002-2005, we may look back on 2007 as the woulda, coulda, shoulda time to buy that dream home.

To both market watchers and those of us actually selling, the malaise in the housing market seems to be lifting somewhat with the onset of the new season.

Yes, we have lots of inventory, both resales and new construction. But buyers who have emerged from their yearlong hibernation are out there looking and sellers are becoming more realistic with their pricing.

Since we are a destination rather than a typical market and the baby boomers have started looking for second and pre-retirement homes, we should begin seeing some normalcy in our market.

As active agents, reminding our sellers that this market is not what it was and helping our buyers get through the confusion remain our most difficult tasks.