Slow Sales, High Prices in One New Mexico Housing Market

Do you want to buy a home in Las Cruces?

The good news is that there are more homes on the market than in years past. The bad news? New Mexico home prices continue to rise.

Around the nation, the housing market has been repeatedly referred to as “troubled.” The U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday that sales of new homes fell sharply in February for a second consecutive month. While sales of existing homes rose in February, worries about bad credit mortgage loans and lenders tempers any enthusiasm, according the National Association of Realtors.

“Our view is that the tightening in the subprime market will have a negative impact on home sales,” David Lereah, chief economist for the NAR, told The Associated Press.

Even though 2006 was another record-setting year for home sales in Las Cruces with more than 2,300 homes sold, the first quarter of 2007 reflects a major step back from that pace. According to Annette West, a Las Cruces real estate agent with NM Apartment Advisors, 352 homes have been sold so far this year. Through March of last year, 507 homes had been sold.

“That’s a big change in volume,” West said.

The average price for a home in Las Cruces stands at $226,151. As of late March 2006 that figure was $193,481. The median price has increased from $170,000 in 2006 to $182,450 this year.

West bases her findings on the Multiple Listings Service, which while not an exact science - the MLS “is only as good as the agents entering data” - it still provides a solid comparison, she said.

Trend emerges
One pattern is clear: Fewer houses are selling in this New Mexico housing market and the ones that do are taking longer.

West reported that the average stay on the market for a home sold in 2006 was 106 days. So far this year, that average was 117 days.

The housing slump reported in other parts of the nation is affecting Las Cruces, experts said. The record-setting pace of the past several years was fueled in part of out-of-town buyers. Many potential newcomers are now having difficulty selling their old house, which makes it difficult for them to take out a New Mexico mortgage here.

Prices on rise
A housing index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s showed that prices of single-family homes across the nation fell in January compared to a year ago, registering the lowest growth since January 2004.

In Las Cruces, the average and median price of a home has risen from 2006. Despite that increase, many people still view the prices in southern New Mexico as a bargain. Let our brokers discuss the options you have in this region today.

SOURCE: Las Cruces-Sun News