October Home Sales Break Rules

The rules are getting thrashed by metro Albuquerque sales of single family detached homes. The Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors released the numbers today.

Not only did October sales of 673 homes show an increase 107 units, or 19% from October 2011, sales were 20 units or three percent more than September. The year-over-year increase was not a surprise. Sales have increased all of 2012 over the previous year by percentages from 4.1% in June to 26.3% in September.

For a colder month such as October to increase from the previous month is very much a surprise. September sales dropped from August, suggesting the seasonal sales decline had started. Not quite yet.

Attached homes—condos and townhouses—did the seasonal thing, however, dropping from 61 during September to 59 in October. September condo sales were 28% ahead of September 2011.

Detach home sales prices, both median and average, dropped from September while remaining essentially unchanged from a year ago. For October, the median sales price was $166,300. The average was $202,827, the seventh consecutive above $200,000.

The number of sales pending for detached homes, 900 in October, was up two percent from September. The October figure of 673 closed sales was 76% of the 884 sales pending during September, an unusually high figure. Closed sales during one month tend to be about 69% of sales pending during the previous month. Applying that relationship to October’s 900 pending sales suggests November closed sales of 621 homes. And now it has gotten cold.

Homes sold in an average of 68 days during October, about the same average sales period since July. For first five months of 2012, the sales period was well over 80 days.