The real estate market in Albuquerque is so competitive now that it takes only a week or so to sell a home after it is listed, according to the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors.
That may be good for sellers, but the market is much more challenging for buyers. The same goes for anyone looking for a home in the area, KOB 4 reported.
Johanna Gilligan of Homewise said home seekers are in a difficult position.
"It's such a punishing rental market," she said about Santa Fe. "The floor is so high, it's really hard to find almost anything under $1,000 [a month] at this point. I think we need to be aggressive about getting out of the way, out of our own way, of building more housing."
Homewise's mission is to make housing affordable with assistance for down payments and home development and carrying mortgages for borrowers, KOB 4 said. The company rolls some of its profits back into subsidies and other programs, hoping to generate more wealth in the community by allowing more people to become homeowners. But, that comes with its own problems, Gilligan told KOB 4.
"Often, when we're looking at how to address affordable housing, we subsidize the buildings – which is important because we need affordable rentals – but the real wealth creation there goes to the owners of those buildings, right?" she said.
With sales of homes taking little time to conclude, it is decidedly a seller's market in Albuquerque. Some landlords are taking advantage of that fact, selling their houses while the market is bringing top dollar rather than continuing to rent them out.
With rising home prices, however, comes higher prices for rentals, meaning many people with average salaries cannot afford the average cost of rent.
The median home price in the first quarter of 2022 was $622,000, thanks largely to record-low inventory, according to the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. In Albuquerque, the realtors' association said the median detached home price for the first quarter of the year was $315,000. While that is much more affordable, it is still an increase of approximately $100,000 over the past two years.
Gilligan believes lawmakers in New Mexico need to relax restrictions placed on builders so more homes can be built to satisfy demand. She also noted that it has become harder for builders to get the needed approval to build new homes in neighborhoods in need of price relief.