Tom Hetmanek paid $325,000 in June for an upscale townhome in the Tierra Hermosa subdivision of Palm Springs.

“Four years ago, it would have cost me around $700,000,” said Hetmanek, who rented for a year and a half before deciding it was the right time to buy.

Like many buyers, Hetmanek is taking advantage of the new affordability of homes in the Coachella Valley, where prices in some neighborhoods have tumbled to levels last seen in the early 1990s.

While plummeting home values are a nightmare for those who bought during the boom, they are providing opportunities for those who have been priced out of Southern California’s notoriously expensive housing market.

Full story is available on mydesert.com