Homebuilders are busy once again in Las Vegas

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But why would California build expensive desalinization plants when we can get water from the Colorado already? Unless Nevada and other Colorado river states chipped in, I don't think California will be reducing the amount it takes from the Colorado.

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I would have thought the only homes to be built nowadays would be for the very high-end luxury market - say at least 800,000-1,000,000 dollar plus houses (double that for CA, etc.).  This income bracket is doing well as is this housing bracket.  But everything below is sheer deflation.

Upper middle class neighborhoods in Socal are in rather pronounced price upswing at the moment actually. I even see signs of life out in the desert in those gated golfing communities. Indio however is still prostrate.

I don't know 'Indio' but I would assume it is the area out in the Eastern part of the LA metro.  But when you say 'upper middle class' in Socal what is the price range?  Does that designation fit my $1.6-2 million conjecture above?

Oh, areas where lower end houses are around 750K or so might be near the break point as a guess. It is amazing to look at an LA County map. The areas with appreciation are very tightly correlated with chic.

Where are you seeing this map of price changes?

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This is not good.

A) Which sicko wants to live in a desert ?

B) Aren't they running out of water there at some point in the next few years if this growth continues ?

A) Me.  I'd love to live there.  LOW humidity and sitting by the pool at 90 degrees with a 5% humidity is awesome.

You can have humidity that low?  As a resident of South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District, I say that "You Lie!"

Chapped lips, guys.  Chapped lips and premature wrinkling.

As for the subject of the thread - it is really astounding that they are building homes again.  I would have thought the only homes to be built nowadays would be for the very high-end luxury market - say at least 800,000-1,000,000 dollar plus houses (double that for CA, etc.).  This income bracket is doing well as is this housing bracket.  But everything below is sheer deflation.

Upper middle class neighborhoods in Socal are in rather pronounced price upswing at the moment actually. I even see signs of life out in the desert in those gated golfing communities. Indio however is still prostrate.

http://goo.gl/maps/GnIo
Could this be why?

No one commutes to Indio, probably not even from Riverside or San Bernardino. Rather the area is a retirement community which creates some jobs, there is substantial farming close by, and there was also a substantial boom there in housing. Those jobs building the houses are gone now and the neighborhoods where those construction workers would live are still in trouble. The more wealthier areas there which would mostly be purchased by retirees seem to be doing ok now. That area overall has a lot of income inequality. It's GINI coefficient would be very high.

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Oops, I meant to say nobody commutes from Indio. Anyways, basically nobody commutes from that area across the mountains into Riverside or San Bernardino. Except in the rate case where one spouse works in Indio and another works in Riverside/San Bernardino. It's just too far to go and the cost differential in houses is not that high. And indeed there are places like Banning and Beaumont in between where you could live cheaply (another disaster zone).