Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal
The average home price in the Albuquerque area rose above $400,000 in May, but the market may slow with interest rates continuing to rise.
According to a Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors report, which is generated using data from Southwest Multiple Listing Service Inc., the average price for a single-family detached home stood at $401,326 in May – nearly a 21% increase year over year.
The median sales price stood at $340,500, according to the report published Friday. Both figures are at record highs, according to GAAR, which has published reports going back to 2008.
For comparison’s sake, the median sales price for a single-family detached home stood at $315,000 in February, according to GAAR.
“It is still what we would consider a seller’s market,” said GAAR President Bridget Gilbert, adding that bidding wars are still commonplace in the Albuquerque area.
There were 1,291 new listings in May and 834 homes were for sale – an uptick from 698 homes in April.
“Historically, when the school year comes to an end, we see more homes enter the market,” Gilbert said.
But a year-over-year comparison shows a nearly 17% decrease in inventory of homes.
Single-family detached homes stood on the market on average about 13 days, according to the report – a figure that remains unchanged from April and the previous year. Gilbert said homes staying on the market has given buyers “more breathing room.”
The absorption rate – which is calculated using the inventory of homes for sale at the end of a given month divided by the average monthly pending sales from the past year – stood at 0.8 in May. That was more than an 11% decrease in the absorption rate from the previous year for single-family detached homes.
Gilbert said May’s absorption rate shows that the inventory still remains too low to swing into buyers’ favor.
Interest rates continue to climb on all ends and it is expected that 30-year fixed rate mortgages will surpass 6% soon, Gilbert said, which
would level the market out some more. To that end, she said home prices will most likely level out, too.
“I think it’s very slow, but I do think that change is on its way,” she said.
On the attached homes side, the median price stood at $250,000 in May – up from $210,500 in the previous year. But there were only about 132 new listings last month and about 46 homes for sale, according to the GAAR report.
However, Gilbert said she has seen a shift in buyers purchasing attached homes because of the rising prices for detached homes.
“I think home affordability is a really big concern right now,” Gilbert said. “We’re actually seeing the attached market doing better simply because of price points.”
