Desert Overview

Isn't the Desert one big golf course? Not quite. There's still some desert around, a windmill farm, lots of hills, one BIG mountain, a tram to the top of the mountain, and a mountain town—Idyllwild, where the natives go to escape the summer heat.
     For Desert real estate trends and demographic statistics, go to our cities page.

Coachella Valley

The Desert we're talking about is located in Coachella Valley, a two-hour drive from Los Angeles, San Diego and the Mexican border. In the Valley are the towns of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs and Indio.
     Long known as a resort destination, especially Palm Springs, the local city governments have been encouraging growth and development.
     The Valley has a permanent population of 285,000 with an additional 100,000 seasonal residents. An estimated 20 to 25% of the land is developed with build-out projected sometime around the year 2030, at which time the population is anticipated to exceed 800,000.

Population

While tourism continues to be an important facet of the local economy, its dominance has been reduced by the continuing development and expansion of other segments of the economy along with the increase of permanent residents.
     Once considered primarily a retirement area, the Valley witnessed a tremendous change during the late 1980's which continues today. In 1985, the median age in the Valley was 64. Now with more families relocating here, the median age has dropped to 31.5. During this same time the Valley has added three new high schools for a total of six.

Housing

Homes in the Valley are affordable, comparatively speaking. If you move here from most parts of California, you'll be amazed at what your money can buy. On the other hand, if you are from the mid-west or Canada, well, check out our Market Trends Report to see what current prices are.

You might find the following graphs informative. The first graph shows the break-down in home sales by price range for 2002, when the run-up in prices began.

The next graph shows the break-down for 2007.

Combined Single-family Home Sales
	<$500K	%	$500-$1MM	%	>$1MM	%	Total
1999	4,034	91.5%	287	6.5%	88	2.0%	4,409
2000	4,366	89.4%	381	7.8%	139	2.8%	4,886
2001	3,624	88.5%	363	8.9%	106	2.6%	4,093
2002	4,557	87.0%	537	10.3%	143	2.7%	5,237
2003	5,116	82.0%	914	14.6%	212	3.4%	6,242
2004	5,797	71.3%	1,848	22.7%	484	6.0%	8,129
2005	4,735	63.3%	2,032	27.2%	709	9.5%	7,476
2006	3,186	61.2%	1,355	26.0%	668	12.8%	5,209
2007	2,200	56.4%	1,148	29.4%	552	14.2%	3,900
2008*	891	64.3%	312	22.5%	182	13.1%	1,385

* Year-to-date

Education

Palm Desert is the home of all major higher education facilities in the Coachella Valley.
     California State University San Bernadino currently has a satellite campus in Palm Desert while the first phase of a permanent facility is being built. This campus offers five bachelor and six master degree programs as well as teaching credentials and paralegal programs.
     University of California Riverside has a research center located in Palm Desert. The establishment of a more substantial UCR presence in the area is in progress.
     Chapman College offers six bachelor and nine master programs, as well as several credential and certificate programs.
     College of the Desert is a community college accredited to confer AA degrees. The college offers 400 courses in its regular instruction program and 400 classes, tours, and sessions via a community service program.