• Median Albuquerque home prices dropped a hair to $359,000 in September
  • New listings in Albuquerque dropped to 1,010
  • Closed sales fell by a whopping 15.6% to 698 homes sold
  • Pending sales rose a skosh to 834 homes in escrow
  • Affordability creeped up to a frustrating 88
  • Inventory rose a bit to 1,841 available homes
Are These Albuquerque Metro Housing Stats Accurate?

OK, yes and no. Median Albuquerque home prices rose, actually, depending on how you look at it.

Residential real estate statistics reported in the news, here in Albuquerque or nationally, often compare the current month, in this case September, to the prior month. So, comparing August to September yes, these stats are accurate.

But month to month comparisons in a seasonal market can be misleading. Albuquerque Metro home sales are most definitely a seasonal market, with price spikes often coming in the late spring or early summer. Inventory spikes also typically happen in that period.

Home prices tend to tail off toward fall and winter. That’s in part because the nicest homes sell in spring and summer and options are often lower quality at the end of the year.

It can be more useful to compare a particular month to the same month in earlier periods – last year or over the course of a few years. Doing it that way yields these bullet points:

  • Median Albuquerque home prices rose a skosh to $359,000 in September
  • New listings in Albuquerque rose to 1,010
  • Closed sales fell a significant -9.6% to 698 homes sold
  • Pending sales rose a whopping 26.2% to 834 homes in escrow
  • Affordability creeped up to a frustrating 88 (OK, no change)
  • Inventory rose sharply to 1,841 available homes

I’m going to lean into these numbers. Not because I’m a glass half full guy, but because comparing historical numbers makes sense. It’s more illustrative of the Albuquerque housing market over time. Same with the national market.

September Median Home Price Levels

The Albuquerque Metro median detached home price was $359,000. That’s a bit higher, just over 1%, than last September’s $354,945. And yes, it is indeed about half a percent lower than the $361,000 median we saw this August.

As I reported in my August market blog that beats the national numbers. Realtor.com reports September home prices dipped about 1% compared to last September. They point out again, price per square foot is up somewhat. That suggests buyers are intentionally buying smaller homes as a cost saving measure.

I looked at our square foot numbers here in Albuquerque Metro. Comparing August & September of 2023 to 2024 I see no appreciable difference in size. In 2023 the median square footage of a sold home was 1,822. This year it was 1,812. Smaller, but not by a significant amount.

For the year through September 2024, Albuquerque area home prices were up 4.3%. The median year-to-date single family home price in Albuquerque Metro was $359,990. That’s no change over what we saw through August and I’m suspicious the number is incorrect. It may be updated in a week or two.

September also saw mortgage rates stay down in the low to mid 6% range. That helped housing affordability in Albuquerque inch up to 88. The Housing Affordability Index (HAI) indicates whether the typical buyer makes enough money to buy a home. It’s a measure that compares median income to median home price. An 88 means the typical Albuquerque buyer has 88% of  the income needed to buy the average home. 88 is not a good number. The ideal is 100 or higher. Still, it’s a nice improvement over last September’s 80 and this August’s 85.

You can read or download the full September report here.

Albuquerque Housing Inventory Climbs

Albuquerque Metro had an average of 1,841 homes on market in September. That’s a 24% rise over September 2023 (1,485 homes) and a high point for 2024. It’s also higher than any month in 2023. That higher inventory may help keep prices level moving into fall. Good for buyers and a push for sellers, who often are looking to buy something else.

New listings are up 8% over last September at 1,010. In fact, for the year to date new listings are also up 8% over the same period last year. There is pent up need for sellers to sell and some of them may well have stopped waiting for mortgage rates to come down.

September Sees Fewer Closings, more Pending Sales

Closed sales dropped 9.6% in September over last year. For the year to date, sales are down by a slight 1%. 698 single family homes closed sale in September compared to 772 closings last year. For the year to date we closed 6,719 homes compared to last year’s YTD sales of 6,793.

On the other hand, 834 homes went into escrow this September, a nice jump over last September’s 661 pendings. We also saw a bump in pendings YTD from 7,014 through September in 2023 to 7,132 this year. That’s up 1%

More homes on the market and improved mortgage rates are unlikely to push prices lower, however. As we move into fall and see the election cycle ramp up it’s unclear how the market will respond. Stay tuned –

– Joe LaMastra, RealABQ Real Estate, October 10, 2024