Recovery in the Albuquerque / Rio Rancho Metro area residential real estate market continued during April. The 678 sales of single family detached homes closed during the month were a seven percent increase from March. The April sales performance represented a 25% jump from April 2009 and the best April sales figure since 2007. The number of pending sales was 1,271 during April. This was an 18% improvement from March and a 52% increase from April 2009. The 1st Time Buyer Tax Credit expired April 30, providing an incentive for buyers to get offers in place by that date. We believe that the tax credit may have increased April sales by as much as 30% over where it might have been without it.
During April, 1,869 single family homes were newly listed for sale, a 10% increase from March and up 28% from April 2009. The total number of single family homes listed for sale was 5,069 during April, down 6.1% from a year ago. Even as the number of new listings has increased, the total number of Albuquerque / Rio Rancho area homes offered for sale has declined during each month of 2010. For townhouses and condominiums, the number of new listings, pending sales and closed sales increased over April 2009. The increases were by greater percentages than for detached homes. A home sold during April was on the market an average of 74 days. That was two days less than during March and 11 days less than April 2009. Average and median sales prices for detached homes held steady as compared to April 2009. For April the absorption rate was 7.9 months, the lowest of the year. This means that at the present sales pace, it would take 7.9 months to sell all the homes currently offered for sale. The April 2009 absorption rate was 9.3 months. The West Side of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho still have the most inventory.