Real estate brokers say there’s no better time to buy a house because the prices seemed to have hit the bottom and interest rates are low. They predict home prices to go back up in a few years. Investors are buying up cheap properties in the desert with cash and renting them out until the market recovers.
But longtime residents have suffered the housing market dip twice in the past 15 years. Renting makes it easier to adjust to the ups and downs and avoid risk of long-term loans, Lamson said.
The High Desert also has an abundance of low-cost rental properties due to foreclosure. A Spring Valley Lake house on the water worth nearly $400,000 is available for rent at $1,500 per month, Lamson said.