ABQ Gains In Housing

Albuquerque has just joined the growing ranks of metropolitan areas with sustained improvement in their housing markets, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index for February.

The index has grown from only 12 improving metros in September 2011 to 259 in February, when Albuquerque was one of 20 metros added to the list. The list has expanded for six straight months and now includes metros from all 50 states.

“Just over 70 percent of the 361 metros covered by the IMI are listed as improving this month,” said NAHB chief economist David Crowe.

Albuquerque has tended to be ranked on negative lists, particularly with construction and real estate, so it’s a major step forward to be on the IMI, said Jim Folkman, executive vice president of the homebuilding group HBA.

“Importantly, being included on this index simply reflects the direction the housing market has been headed this last year,” he said.

Using federal data, the index identifies metro areas that have shown improvement from their respective troughs or low points in housing permits, house prices and employment for at least six consecutive months.

The index shows Albuquerque had a 4.7 percent increase in housing permits since a low point in March 2011. It shows home prices increased 8.5 percent since a low point in November 2011 and job growth was a tiny 0.1 percent since a low point in June 2012.