Home prices mark largest yearly gain since 2006 – New Mexico Business Weekly

CoreLogic said Dec. 4 that U.S. home prices rose 6.3 percent in October compared with a year ago — the largest yearly gain since July 2006.

According to an Associated Press report in the Albuquerque Journal, the company also said that prices declined 0.2 percent in October from September — the second drop after six straight monthly increases. The monthly figures are not seasonally adjusted.

CoreLogic said the decline reflects the end of the summer home buying season.

In New Mexico, the month-over-month decline was 0.1 percent, from a home price gain of 3.2 percent in September to 3.1 percent in October. New Mexico had the 31st highest home-price increase among the 50 states in October, according to CoreLogic.

The Journal reported that separate, local measures of median home prices from the Relators Association of New Mexico and the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors have shown the state and Albuquerque-area stabilizing but not seeing strong gains.

Something really great is happening in the national and Albuquerque real estate market: There are fewer homes on the market than previous years and there are more buyers. What does this mean, well it means that the supply and demand curve is beginning to level itself out and the market is starting to normalize itself.

A depressed real estate market like we had was not healthy, though neither was the real estate market during the boom when home prices were rising so sharply. The Albuquerque real estate market is extremely stable right now, home prices are still reasonable, interest rates are historically low, and homes are once again selling.

What does this mean to the typical Albuquerque home buyer or seller? For buyers, your money and buying power has gone way up (meaning that with such low interest rates your dollars will go a lot further). Just a 1% increase in interest rates would decrease your buying power by a considerable amount. For sellers, it means that buyers are once again buying and are willing to pay a premium to buy your home. If an Albuquerque home is in show-condition and is priced right, it has a better chance of selling in a short period of time and often, we’ve seen, with multiple offers.

We at “The Q” or Q Realty, Inc. are skilled at counseling our clients to select the right price for their home to optimize the balance between time on market and purchase price and we are expert negotiators. So whether you are buying or selling a home in the Greater Albuquerque Area, we invite you to call 505-750-0059 and share with us your real estate needs.