Abq Homes Sales Up 7% in February

After the way up and way down gyrations of December and January, sales of single family detached homes in metro Albuquerque resumed an upward path in February and threw in nice year over-year and month-over-month price increases as a bonus. The Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors (gaar.com) released the February sales report today.
Sales closed on 638 homes during February, a 44 unit, or 7% increase from January, and an 84 unit or 15.2% jump from January 2015.
Sale was pending on 638 metro homes during February, up 128 homes, or 14%, from January and up 119 homes, or 13% from February 2015. Of the 912 homes with sale pending in January, 70%, a relatively low figure, turned into closed sales in February.
Across the entire metro, the homes with sales closing were on the market for 70 days, three days less than February 2015 but six days more than January. The sales were much slower in Rio Rancho, where homes were on the market for 82 days. It was 62 days in Albuquerque.
The average sales price, $212,172 in February, dropped two percent, or $5,075, month-over-month but was up 6.5%, or about $13,000, from February 2015. That $212,172 average was the highest February average since 2011. One reason the average price dropped was that the month’s best selling price group was the $120,000 to $139,999 range with 83 sales, a 36% year over-year hike. In February 2105, the group ranked third in sales.
February’s median sales price, $178,000, was the highest February median since 2009. The $178,000 median was up five percent, or $9,000, year over-year and increased $3,000 from January.