Eloise Gift, New Mexico Real Estate

Albuquerque has another name. The city has been fondly called the Duke City for years and now another name is becoming popular - The "Q." It has one advantage. It is easier to spell.

So what happened in the Q this week? Many of us in the real estate business are feeling hopeful about the market and are pleased that first-time home buyers in particular seem to be taking advantage of the large inventory and continuing low rates and other available incentives.

Of course, the housing market is only a barometer of the overall economy, so what indicators in the Q this past week are leading to positive real estate outcomes? Here are some.

The Q is still a popular destination for tourists, retirees, and job seekers.
Our stimulus package increased to more than $3 billion.
New Mexico's unemployment rate is well below the national average.
The weather was fantastic all week and Homeland Security held its first Advisory Meeting in the Q with Secretary Napolitano, Atty General Holder and other VIPs from Washington, DC.

The Q may just be inching its way up from the #2 spot on Kiplinger's Top Ten Cities.

Eloise Gift
June 5, 2009
www.eloisegift.com

Paradise East is a part of the Wetside Community of Greater Albuquerque. During the last three months, 19 homes sold in Paradise East. Currently, no homes are under contract awaiting escrow in the are. Seventy-two are actively listed for sale.

The homes that sold were on the market for an average of just over 75 days and sold at an average of 96% of their listed sales price. The average listing price of the sold homes was $230,000. The average selling price was $221,000. Homes currently listed are at an average price of $313,000.

Market Trends in the Greater Albuquerque Area

This Paradise East sub market reflects somewhat the market of the entire Albuquerque area that is seeing a decreasing inventory even though the number of new listings entering the market have increased. The combined total for active detached, single family homes, condos and town homes is just over 6,000. That's good! Also good is that we had more closed sales in February than in January but there are fewer pending sales (properties with accepted offers awaiting closing). In January we had 324 closings and in February, 343 - significantly less than at the same time in 2008. And not every market is seeing sales activity. The busiest areas of the Albuquerque Southwest Multiiple Listing Service community for the month of February were City of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho followed by the Los Lunas, Belen, Bosque Farms area.

Conclusion

It is difficult to evaluate the trend of the market based on current statistics. More new listings entered the market in February than in January but inventory is down and time on the market has increased. Average price decreased, but the median increased. Some Southwest Multiple Listing Service areas are seeing little or no sales activity. The mixed messages may be the result of seasonal adjustments or market conditions, or a combination of both. We hope the arrival of spring will bring a more clearly defined trend and help us clarify the direction of the market.

Reference: The Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors - http://abqrealtors.com

Indicators for February's residential real estate market in the Greater Albuquerque Area were inconclusive as to whether the e. market was shifting upward or down. We had more new listings entering the market than in January but the inventory is decreasing. The combined total for detached, single family homes, condos and townhomes is just over 2,000. That's good! We had more closed sales in February than in January but fewer pending sales (properties with accepted offers awaiting closing). In January we had 324 closings and in February, 343; significantly less than at the same time 2008. Not every market area saw activity. The busiest areas for the month were City of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho followed by the Los Lunas, Belen, Bosque Farms area.

Average sales price continued its downward trend, but the median price showed a slight increase. The average sales price for single family homes was $209,515. The median was $184,900. The top selling price range for detached homes was $200,000 to $249,000, and for condos and townhomes $140,000-$159,000. The average number of days on the market increased to 96. We approximately a nine-month supply of homes listed for sale.

Content provided by: Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors, http://abqrealtors.com

Body Count 13, the headline of the Albuquerque Journal screams in bold three-fourths-inch type. And in smaller type, making us breath a sigh of relief, There’s no Serial Killer on the Loose, APD [Albuquerque Police Department] Chief Says. But the unearthing of so many bodies next to a gated community on the edge of the  southwestern expansion of the city  is a worrisome mystery that continues to unfold. Two of the bodies have been identified as young women in their twenties who disappeared 2004-2005. The cause of their death and why they were buried in that spot is  yet to be determined.  The search continues. No one knows if more bodies lie hidden there. Local and national television news photographs showed a site that looks like a huge archeological dig. I needed to see it for myself.

Just over a year a go, I helped a client move into a gated community adjacent to vacant lands that are now the subject of this search. I called up my former client and we agreed to visit the site together. The directions are: south on Coors to Dennis Chavez, to right on 118th Street across from the neighborhood school being built according to LEED specifications.  The gates  swing open for me as I turn right from 118th street into my former client’s community.  He is waiting for me. He climbs into the car and we return to 118th, turn right and in two minutes are at the excavation site. It is as I saw it on CNN--neat mounds of earth and trenches are spread over the fenced-off 100 acre area that a builder had started to prepare for residential construction.  Some of the dig is quite close to the street. A van parked on the site has “Crime Lab” prominently written on its side. We park near a police car on the street and get out of our car for a closer look and to take pictures.  The site is quiet.  Today is Sunday. My client says that on weekdays  diggers with shovels are all over the site.   A few other people are are parked nearby and are taking pictures also.

One of the photographers is from the Albuquerque Journal and we talk about how unlikely it seems to have a crime scene in such a beautiful spot.  The mesa stretches peaceful, serene and undisturbed as far as eye can see westward. Eastward and to the south, the Sandia and Manzano Mountains rise - today a blue-green backdrop for the city of Albuquerque.  As the city expands westward in the only direction in which undeveloped land remains available, we have arrived at this place that as recently as five years ago was peaceful, pristine, undisturbed land conceivably ideal for the perfect crime or a permanent resting place. As things stand, New Mexico,  geographically one of the largest states in the Union and in population one of the smallest, seems paradoxically blessed and cursed with an abundance of such spaces.

Almost one year ago, my client, a former real estate professional himself, relocated from another state and chose to buy a home in this newly developing area precisely for the beauty, the views and the nearby vast open spaces. Had it not been for the downturn in the community, building in this adjoining development would have continued without interruption and we would not have had to wait for for hikers to make the gruesome chance discovery. Findings, so far, indicate that disturbance at the site apart from that of the builder, date back four or five years, hence the APD’s determination that no serial killer is currently running loose.  For the time being, residents are breathing a sigh of relief. A feeling of security is restored, but the discovery is unfortunate and disquieting. Residents of Albuquerque and indeed all of New Mexico are unhappy and saddened by the discovery. They hope no more bodies will be found, and impatiently await the solving of the mystery.

A few days ago the Southwest Multiple Listing Service (SWMLS) issued a press release on local market conditions. Except for their apparently more significant percentage drop in the price of single-family detached homes, their evaluation of the market was in sync with my4th quarter evaluation based on my personal experience, market observation, and SWMLS statistics. It was clear that our single-family detached home sales were at their lowest ever in terms of price, number of sales, and days on the market. My evaluation, less detailed, did not specify the percentage decrease. (I take it for granted that my readers will do that math.)

Alas! SWMLS transposed some numbers and ended up with a steeper percentage drop in prices than actual. SWMLS issued a correction for that error. However, the essential truth remained, that residential real estate prices have fallen. The percentage drop was just not as significant as SWMLS reported. In the Greater Albuquerque Area, we are having real estate challenges just like everywhere else across the nation and perhaps the world. It's just that up to now, our challenges are still not as severe as in some other areas.

In the meantime we hope we are seeing the worst that the market can offer. We continue to do our part towards contributing to the stimulation of the economy for a rebound in the shortest possible time. We want to say good-bye to economic doldrums. We are thinking jobs, money, earnings to buy necessities - food, shelter, health care, nice homes that we can keep for as long as we want to.