GAAR FIRST QUARTER REPORT

Homes Sell at Record Pace

While the inventory of homes for sale in the greater Albuquerque area remains tight, homes continue to sell at a record pace through the first quarter of 2017.

Detached home sales totaled 2,296 units, a 6.64 percent increase when compared to first quarter 2016. The median sales price for detached homes increased to $187,000, a 4.47 percent increase from a year ago, while average sales price also increased 3.27 percent to $223,288. Similarly, townhome and condo sales totaled 218, an increase of 4.31 percent when compared to the first quarter 2016. Although the median sales price for townhomes and condos saw a slight increase of half a percent, average sales price increased 6.11 percent to $146,437.

Detached homes, as well as townhomes and condos, sold with fewer average days on market when compared to a year ago, which is likely a trend that will continue through the peak selling season. Detached homes sold in 58 days on average, 10.77 percent faster than the 65 average days on market for the first quarter 2016. Townhomes and condos for the Greater Albuquerque area sold on average in 53 days. The days on market until sale for Rio Rancho attached listings decreased from 68 in the first quarter of 2016 to 37 in 2017, a decrease of 45.59 percent.

The Greater Albuquerque housing market continued to track low inventory of homes for sale, with a moderate 1.41 percent decrease in the amount of new detached listings in the Greater Albuquerque area when compared to first quarter 2016. New detached listings in the Albuquerque metro increased from 2,712 in the first quarter of 2016 to 2,793 in 2017, an increase of 2.99 percent. Conversely, new detached listings in Rio Rancho decreased 8.17 percent when compared to first quarter 2016, from 734 units to 674. Townhome and condo new listings increased 10.33 percent overall throughout the Greater Albuquerque area. The East Mountains and Valencia County saw 26.60 and 12.20 percent increases in closed sales respectively when compared to first quarter 2016.

"The trends we are seeing in the Greater Albuquerque real estate market parallel those experienced in 2016," said Don Martindell, 2017 President of the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors." Heading into the peak selling season, sales prices continue to rise; however, they are not rising at a faster rate than observed in 2016."