BY STEPHEN HAMWAY / JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, August 10th, 2021 at 5:37pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque’s median home price in July dropped very slightly from June’s record-setting total, but the broader trend of rapid home price growth is still going strong, particularly at the top of the market.
“We are still seeing a lot of buyers and not enough houses on the market,” said Belinda Franco, board president for the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors.
According to new numbers posted by the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors on Tuesday, the median sale price of a detached single-family home in metro Albuquerque in July stood at exactly $300,000, down slightly from $305,000 figure posted in June. That figure represents a 19.5% increase from last July, as low inventory, low interest rates and renewed demand have driven prices up. Meanwhile, the mean housing price continued to increase in July, increasing to a record $349,999.
Franco said the $50,000 disparity between median and mean home price is due to an influx of activity in the luxury home submarket in and around Albuquerque. She said luxury homes have been in high demand, as families buy larger homes for multi-generational living and buyers from other markets move to Albuquerque.
“I think that Albuquerque is drawing a lot of people from the movie industry,” Franco said.
Franco told the Journal that more Albuquerque homeowners have begun putting their houses on the market since summer began, slightly loosening up a housing market where homes were routinely selling within a few hours of being listed earlier this year. Data from GAAR showed that 1,569 houses were newly listed in July, the fifth consecutive month that total rose.
“It seems like the market is flattening a little bit,” Franco said.
Additionally, 1,398 single-family houses went under contract in July, a 4.8% increase from a year prior.
Franco said the increased activity is typical of the summer months, when sellers, particularly parents with school-age children, are able to move with minimal disruption.
“If they’re making a move, they’re not having to pull kids out of school to do that,” Franco said.
Franco added that she isn’t expecting demand to taper off anytime soon even with the beginning of the school year around the corner. Even with a slight uptick in supply, Franco said most houses are selling for at or above list price. In some cases, Franco said buyers are willing to cover the gap between the sale cost and the appraisal cost, a sign of fierce competition over available homes.
“Sellers are going to take advantage of a seller’s market,” Franco said.
