Albuquerque, NM Market Update

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At this time last year, the predictions for our real estate market in Albuquerque, NM was that we would be saying good-bye to the downward shift in 2009. In November, only two months ago, Albuquerque was on Forbes Magazine top ten list of cities poised for early recovery from the slump. A look at our end of year, December statistics do not, at first sight, reveal an imminent recovery. The prices of houses in the Greater Albuquerque area have not made a dramatic nosedive, neither have they improved. Rather, they continue to decline. The average price of a home in the Greater Albuquerque area is now $218,633 and the median is $179,900.

 

Sales volume also, declined. December sales were 104 fewer than in December 2007 and almost one half of our December 2005 high of 900 sales. See Albuquerque New Mexico Home Prices. Nevertheless, resale listings also declined.  So our inventory, although still comparatively high, has decreased. The December 2008 inventory of 5,222 homes, twice as high as that of December 2005, was actually lower than the inventor of December 2007. A glimmer of hope? Perhaps!

Also another glimmer of hope in the December, Albuquerque market statistics was the decline in the number of days it took to sell a house --5% fewer days than just one month before in November.

The combination of a gradual price decline, lower interest rates, fewer new housing starts resulting from a drastic reduction in the number of building permits, job retention and a strong injection of new jobs could be the stimulus for the predicted rebound for 2009-2010.