Albuquerque Home Prices Stable, Sort Of. That's the Only Good News.

For single family detached homes in metro Albuquerque, prices appear fairly stable, actually up a little. That’s the one nice thing to be said about the residential real estate market around here. And note that the price comment applies only to detached homes. For town houses and condominiums, prices are drifting down on a year over year basis.
Median condo prices peaked in June at $155,000 and were $142,00 in September.
During September, the average detached home sales price continued ahead of 2009 in metro Albuquerque. For the 479 single family detached homes with sales closed during September, the average price was $217,677. That was 3.7% above the average price during September 2009, though down from August and July 2010.
September was the third month in a row with the average price of a metro area home higher than the same month a year before. The median single family detached home price, $183,000 for September, increased from August and from September 2009.
Homes are selling faster in Albuquerque. The average detached home that sold during September was on the market for 74 days, two days less than September 2009. It took an average of 67 days for a townhouse or condominium to sell during September. That was a week less than a year earlier. During all nine months of 2010, single family detached homes have sold more quickly than during the same month of 2009.
There were 479 closed sales of single family detached homes during September. That was a 6.3% drop from August. Closed sales peaked in May at 731, the month after the first time homebuyer tax credit ended. Sales have declined every month since, evidence of the folly of such programs. Condo sales also peaked in May, at 103, and have dropped every month since. Closed condo sales were 47 in September.
Sales were pending for 657 homes during September, down 14% from August.
In addition to the end of the tax credit, factors in play for September include the number of foreclosed homes not yet on the market, the end of the summer “peak” selling seasons and Albuquerque’s poor economy that still is losing jobs.