This info is hot off the GAAR (Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS® press with it being September 1st, and I wanted to share it with folks since it was a very pleasant surprise to see! The median sales price for all closings recorded in the Southwest MLS (the Multiple Listing Service for GAAR) for August was UP a bit from July. This info is publicly available and can be found at https://www.gaar.com/market-statistics. Almost every real estate-related conversation I’ve had with friends and family and clients over the last few months has involved people asking, “How is the market, and is it going to crash or go down significantly due to rising interest rates?” My answer has been something like, “The data for Albuquerque shows that it has been cooling off slightly for the last 2 months since we hit an all-time high for sales prices in May – which is probably a healthy trend. But it definitely isn’t crashing here because there’s still so much more demand than supply. Even though people’s buying power has gone down some with higher interest rates, there are still enough people with cash or large down payments or simply the need/desire to buy a home in the ABQ area regardless of interest rates, that the pressure is staying up on prices. It is still a seller’s market, and homes in good condition and priced right are still selling in under a week on average. And while interest rates are higher than they’ve been since 2008 and 2009, they’re still low from a historical perspective. So it’s not all bad news for buyers either. It’s just not as good now as it was a year ago when mortgage rates were at all-time lows.”
Here’s what the 30-year historical mortgage rates chart looks like – from Freddie Mac (https://themortgagereports.com/61853/30-year-mortgage-rates-chart#historical)
So there’s no question that rates have gone up significantly this year, and that impacts buyers’ budgets. But at least for right now in and around Albuquerque, prices are not going down. August closed with prices right in line with the almost all-time highs we saw in April and June of this year.
Homes are staying on the market just a bit longer though. The average for detached homes for all of GAAR/SWMLS for August was 8 Days On Market (DOM) – from the same GAAR website. So I’ll be adjusting my statement slightly to say, “Homes that are in good condition and priced right are still selling in under 10 days.” That’s definitely up some from the all-time low of 4 days that we saw in May and June of this year (which was similar to the first half of 2021), but it’s still very low from a historical perspective.
I hope this information and brief analysis is helpful. Thanks to Julian Nunez at GAAR for always compiling this data and providing it on the 1st of every month for us!
I hope it goes without saying that the value of a specific home in a given neighborhood or area serviced by GAAR needs to have a detailed market analysis done by a licensed REALTOR® to determine its value. Our team and I are always glad to do that for people, so feel free to reach out at 505-550-0899 if you’re interested in a market analysis for your property or if you’d like to discuss anything real estate related.
Thanks, and happy September 1st!
John Woods – PHOCUS Real Estate Team – brokered by eXp Realty (505-554-3873)