The State of Housing

During 2006, there were 12,500 building permits issued for new homes across New Mexico. That was a drop of 1,600 permits, or 11.3%. Nearly all states showed a drop in permits issued. Wyoming and Texas were exceptions.
Of the 151,000 buyers of homes during 2005 in New Mexico, 10.2% or about 15,000, were foreign born.
Metro Albuquerque apartments were 3.8% vacant during the fourth quarter of 2006, a 0.8 percentage point drop. As supply dropped, price increased. Average rents, $643 per month, were up 2.9% for the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to a year earlier.
The median price for existing single family homes in metro Albuquerque was $184,200 in 2006, up from $145,400 in 2004.
These numbers come from tables that are an appendix to Harvard University’s recently issued annual report, “State of the Nation’s Housing.” The report can be found in the Policy Reports section and the tables in the Economic Data section.