Albuquerque Area Market Statistics – The Media vs. The Data
You can’t always take at face value what you hear and read in the media. The media has been bemoaning the “crash” of the real estate market for about three years now, and especially within the past two years. Are they telling you the truth? Yes and no. If national statistics, or worst-case scenarios, are of interest to you, then, yes. But if you are specifically interested in what has happened in the greater Albuquerque area, then, no. That’s because, while our market did indeed suffer from downward turns in the economy in general, and in the financial sector in particular, it did not suffer nearly as much as many others did. Read on to get the facts and real market data.
Average sales prices in the Albuquerque area’s real estate market have declined in just two years since 2000: 2008 and 2009. During those two years, many markets throughout the country declined at double-digit levels, some well over 30%. Our biggest decline was in 2009 at just 7.7%. There are many reasons why this market was spared the worst of the decline, including the following:
- Our economy here is not primarily dependent upon only a couple of major industries. When something bad hits one sector, it has a smaller impact here than in areas where that sector is a large percentage of the overall local economy. And one of our larger employers is the medical industry, which (unfortunately) never declines.
- We started our market boom later in time than did many other areas, meaning that our prices had not increased as much–we were not incredibly over-priced when the decline hit and, therefore, prices did/could not correct nearly as much.
- There is still a relatively large influx of people into this area, thanks to things like the weather, activities, economy, cost of living and, yes, housing prices. This helps to keep demand up somewhat as compared to many other areas.
Please don’t get me wrong–prices here did drop and we still have more inventory than we need for the buyers we have: it is still a buyer’s market . But this is not all bad news for sellers, most of whom will not “lose their shirts” selling their home. (Of course, individual cases vary and the data is talking about averages, not sepcific cases.) And it is also good news for buyers–prices did relax and there are record-low interest rates.
So, next time you hear the media talking about the real estate “crash”, and about “the bottom falling out”, remember that the reality of the Abuquerque area is quite different. And please remember that “Real Estate Is Local”.
I promised you data and here it is, taken from reports published by our real estate Board, with the data coming from our Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Of course, I have to say that it is deemed but not guaranteed reliable.
Average Price Change By Year - Percentages
2010 Average Price Change By Month - Albuquerque single-family detached homes.
Albuquerque Area Average Home Sales Price By Year - Dollars
Albuquerque Area Single-Family Detached Homes sales prices 2010