A week after tallies of Albuquerque home sales for the fourth quarter of 2015 showed more closed deals than at any time since 2007, the dust has settled on the real estate market for the year as a whole, and the news is good.

The Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors says 10,928 detached and attached homes sold in 2015, a 15.55 increase over a year ago and the highest annual level since 2006.

Sales prices also increased, though not at the rate of sales. The $215,331 average sale price for 2015 represents a 1.10 percent increase over 2014 for detached home sales.

Those sales prices can probably be expected to creep upward as overall home selling climbs and inventory decreases.

The 3,407 homes currently for sale is an eight-and-a-half year low for the greater Albuquerque housing market. Since the 2011 low of $201,176, the average detached home sales price has has grown each year consecutively, representing an overall improvement of 7.04 percent.

“The Albuquerque metro area’s housing market was very active in 2015,” GAAR president Jon Schnoor said in a statement. “With the number of homes sold reaching levels not seen since 2006, the housing market looks promising going into 2016.”

By Mike English, Assistant Editor of Albuquerque Business First
505.348.8323 | menglish@bizjournals.com