January 2013 Market Report

Yes, it is time, as the MLS Monthly Review from the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors for January was just released and I’d like to share it with our listeners today. We’ve hit the ground running since New Year’s, and I have such enthusiasm for the real estate market in 2013! Articles from the internet’s CoreLogic to our local paper, ABQ Journal, are broadcasting the stabilization of the real estate market that I’ve been reporting for months.

What indicators do you see of stabilization?

Pending and closed single-family, detached homes both saw an increase of over 16% from January of 2012. We had an incredible 34% increase in pending sales from January compared to December! Our market reports consist of data on single-family detached as well as attached homes, and they both performed well in the two sweet spots. The $140-$160,000 and the $200-$250,000 price ranges saw the most activity. The upper-end price range slowed with only 11 homes closed over $500,000, 17% are between $250-$500,000, and so, truly, the sweet spot at 81% of sales are anything below $250,000.

Sounds like positive momentum for this upcoming year. How about supply and demand?

Supply and demand are balancing with just over 4,000 homes available. As the market stabilizes and people are hearing positive momentum in the real estate market, more people are putting their homes up for sale, with 1,350 new listings in January alone. The big news is over 1,050 homes had offers accepted, which is amazingly strong Buyer activity the first of the year. As I’ve said for the last few months, if you are interested in selling, call me today, don’t wait until the spring when the inventory increases. I believe Buyers are realizing the time to buy is now as evidenced by these numbers. If you are interested in buying or selling, sooner rather than later is my advice.

As always, who do you know that needs to buy or sell real estate today? Thanks!!