ABQ housing market inventory drought leads to generous offers, but less choice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Don Martindell, President,
505-263-7618, president@gaar.com
Kent Cravens, Executive Vice President,
505-724-3481, kent@gaar.com
ABQ housing market inventory drought leads to
generous offers, but less choice
Albuquerque, NM (March 10, 2017) – The Albuquerque-Metro housing market remained tight as more buyers vie for fewer available homes. Shrinking inventory has led to homes selling faster at a higher rate. Though the rise in home prices was a relief to sellers, buyers had to act fast to get the home they wanted.
While not all homes in all neighborhoods are selling as fast, detached homes sold in an average of 66 days this February, 12.0 percent faster than in February 2016. Townhomes and condos are selling in 55 days on average, 17.9 percent faster than last year. Detached homes received, on average, 97.6% of the listed price at time of offer, 1.1% more than last year.
The number of newly listed homes added to the local housing market declined once again in February. Compared to 1,415 new listings in 2016, this February’s 1,263 newly listed detached homes for sale represented a 10.7 percent decrease. At the same time, the number of newly listed townhomes and condos dropped by 6.0 percent.
Because less homes are being placed on the market each month, the overall inventory continued its decline in February. Compared to 2016, February’s detached home inventory was down 22.6 percent to a record low of 2,849 listings, and the townhome and condo inventory was down 21.5 percent to just 296 listings.
As home availability decreased, the number of homes sold in February also declined. The 633 detached homes sold in February 2017 marked a 5.8 percent decrease from last year, while the 71 townhomes and condos sold represented a 14.5 percent decrease.
Contrasting the drop in availability, Greater Albuquerque’s median and average home sales prices continued to rise. For detached homes, the median sales price increased 6.6 percent to $186,500 and increased 10.3 percent to $144,324 for townhomes and condos. The month-to-month comparative of the average sales price for detached homes increased 6.8 percent to $223,104, while the average price of $145,340 represented an 8.9 percent increase for townhomes and condos.
“While the rise in home prices is good news for home sellers,” said Don Martindell, 2017 President of the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors, “It can be a challenge to buyers, especially first-time buyers.” He added, “Sellers are getting generous offers in the current market, but worry that they have less homes to choose from when they, in turn, are buying their next home.”
To see the full market indicator report for February 2017 market statistics, go to GAAR.com/market-statistics .
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About GAAR
The Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS® (GAAR) is the largest local professional trade association in Central New Mexico with over 3000 members pledged to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Established in 1921, GAAR is the Voice for Real Estate for the Greater Albuquerque Area and the trusted source for accurate real estate market data and trends.
REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.
For media assistance, please contact Eva Medcroft at 505-724-3461 or eva@gaar.com