Record listings The Albuquerque Metropolitan Board of Realtors reported a record 6,189 listings of resale attached and detached single-family homes as of mid-July. Throw in those that are for sale by owner or new and being sold by builders, and there's even more. That shatters the previous record set in August 1999, when existing home inventory stood at 5,310. Despite the number on the market, average and median home sales prices are getting more expensive by the month. That's "a direct result from (Hurricane) Katrina and its fallout," says David Murphy, publisher of SalesTraq of New Mexico, a subscription-only real estate database. "It was a natural disaster that was a breaking mechanism for the boom. It slowed down speculative buying." Katrina hit in August 2005, when the national and local housing market was going gangbusters. Home builders had been selling on paper a massive amount of homes at a record pace, sometimes getting contracts on five to 10 homes from a single individual wanting investment properties. But when the hurricane struck, material costs went through the roof and labor became scarce. Projects got delayed. By the time construction was completed on many of these pre-ordered homes, some investors had backed out leaving builders with more property than they could move. Others tried to rent them come 2006 but couldn't after a year of trying and were forced to sell. By then, interest rates began hovering around 6 percent, up from lows near 5.25 percent, and they've continued to climb to around 6.75 percent this year.
Bucking the trend In such a saturated market, economic laws would expect prices to fall, like they have nationwide. Nationally, the median home price is down 1.4 percent from a year ago to $218,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. But in the Albuquerque metro area, the median price (the price at which half the homes were sold above and below) has risen $3,000 since April to $201,500 in June. Median prices are up $11,000 since January and are about $16,000 higher than a year ago when 3,602 resale homes- just more than half the number today- were on the market. Average prices, too, jumped from $243,023 in April to $254,298 by the end of last month. That's $15,000 more than last year, according to AMBR. One reason for the higher price is that the housing being built here has changed to appeal to more expensive tastes. That means the escalation of overall prices is as much a reflection of a shift in what's being built as it is on appreciation of existing homes. With granite countertops, intricate tilework, appliance packages and greater attention to interior architectural detailing now standard in many homes, base prices are increasing, pushing up the metro's prices as a whole. "Homes in general have become more high-end in the Albuquerque area," Murphy says. Drive through Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Los Lunas and Bernalillo, and you're seeing a trend toward more expensive subdivisions and more expensive homes. "Don't get the idea that we're in some super-hot appreciation market, because we're not," he says. You don't have to be too observant to notice homes languishing for months, their sales prices being slashed $5,000, $10,000, even $25,000, depending on the amount of time listed and the location. As always, some neighborhoods are selling more quickly and at higher prices than others. Realtors say many sellers simply priced their homes too high, basing the list price on appreciation they expected after seeing prices skyrocket in 2005. "A lot of sellers are that way, and lot of them are a victim of the amount of money they borrowed (when they bought during the boom) and can't afford to go to market levels," Coldwell Banker's Lee said.
Custom features The trend toward high-dollar development started with the custom builders. The Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico's annual Parade of Homes has seen a rise in its million dollar and multimillion dollar mansions annually. Meanwhile, the majority of Albuquerque residents have relied on production builders for real houses at "regular" prices. But that, too, is changing. Even production companies popular with first-time home buyers appear to going more upscale. Take KB Home. It entered the luxury market locally this year for the first time with its Montecito Estates subdivision on the northwest mesa. With home prices starting in the mid-$200s and on up to the high $300s, the community is a departure for the company, known for catering to first-time home buyers. Spokeswoman Elisabeth Monaghan has called the homes "custom production" because options once considered custom- three-car garages, private courtyards, high-end appliances, raised-panel oak cabinets- are standard in some of the plans. Upgrades go a step further with cherry cabinetry, entryway medallions on the floor and home theaters. Monaghan says it's reflective of a demographic shift locally that includes more empty-nesters, more move-up buyers and more transplants. Joe LaMendola, vice president of sales and marketing at Centex Homes, says his company is seeing the same trend. "On the traditional Albuquerquean's wage, people can't afford to buy homes. "The people who are able to afford homes are coming from other places. They're coming to work at the Eclipses and places like that, with pockets full of money from appreciation on their homes elsewhere." Meanwhile, the price of entry-level homes of today have increased dramatically. As of July 20, the lowest price for a new home in Albuquerque was $121,490, and that was for 950 square feet on the Southwest Mesa, according to SalesTraq. That equates to $127 per square foot. In 2003, the lowest price was $80,000. In Rio Rancho, the bottom barrel price for a new home is $157,990. That buys 1,294 square feet, SalesTraq numbers show. Four years ago, the lowest priced new home cost $86,000. "Albuquerque has been less expensive (than Rio Rancho) for new homes in the past 24 months," Murphy said, adding that the first-time home buyer is going to find the best prices on the Southwest Mesa, where resale homes can still be found for less than $100,000. Michaela Trujillo, a teacher at Mountain View Elementary and recent first-time home buyer, said it was easy to get a lot of home on the Southwest Mesa near her price point of $200,000. The 24-year-old just closed on a four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath Centex house totaling 2,700 square feet. It's in the new Anderson Hills subdivision on the Southwest Mesa, and she paid $215,000. Meanwhile, a comparable new home in the far NortheastHeights would be more than double that and possibly triple. As for the Albuquerque metro area as a whole, predictions are positive, with most in the industry expecting demand for housing to increase in 2008 and for prices to level off initially and then recover. "Barring a calamity, we will weather the (national) storm," Lee said. "We've never had any protracted time of price decline, ... in the last 30 years for sure." In short, says Hardison: "We're gonna be fine."
By the Numbers
·Prices on entry-level homes have increased as much as 80 percent in just the past four years. These reflect the lowest available costs for a new, single-family home.
·While national home sales hit a five-month low in June, the number of sales in the Albuquerque area increased over the same period. However, this year overall is seeing a decrease in homes sold compared with previous years, when significantly fewer houses were on the market. Albuquerque Metropolitan Board of Realtors statistics show 1,011 homes sold last month; 1,248 sold in June 2006; 1,295 sold in June 2005; and 1,157 sold in June 2004.
·The Albuquerque metropolitan area ranked 128th in affordability out of 219 cities for the first quarter of 2007. Statistics show the area has become more expensive comparatively since about 2005, after about a decade of relative affordability.
·Realtors say the average time a home sits on the market is between two and three months, with those in the NortheastHeights selling faster than those on the West Side.
Sunday, July 29, 2007 Market Primed for Condos, Townhomes By Autumn Gray Of the Journal The lack of affordable single-family homes has some predicting Albuquerque is primed for more townhomes and condominiums. "What really needs to come in and fill the gap in the market is more affordable attached products," said David Murphy, publisher of SalesTraq of New Mexico, a subscription-only real estate database. "I think we'll see perhaps a condo conversion craze come to Albuquerque like it did in Phoenix, like it did in Las Vegas, to meet the need." It may have already begun. KB Home's most recent development, the Spanish-style Villas at Menaul, is made up of 200 condominiums- a first for the production builder. On the low end, a 1,166-square-foot condo with two bedrooms, two baths and a one-car garage starts at $156,990. At the opposite extreme, 1,820 square feet with four bedrooms, three baths and a two-car garage lists at $207,990. The 17-acre site is at the intersection of Broadway and Menaul. Construction began last fall and the Villas are 30 percent sold, Monaghan said. Centex, too, is building its first attached-home community in Albuquerque. Presidio, just south of Interstate 40 and east of Eubank, will offer Mediterranean and Tuscan-style townhomes, condos, and duplexes and triplexes. Prices will start at $184,500, which buys a 1,199-square-foot condominium with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a one-car garage. At the higher end is the 1,772-square-foot townhome, which will list at $230,000 for three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and a two-car garage. Centex has similar townhome and condominium communities in Santa Fe already. Brian Schmidly, director of marketing with Centex, expects the first closing in Presidio to occur at the start of 2008. Gauging the interest thus far, he says more communities like this are "a very viable option."
No. 1 nationally: ABQ homes keep appreciating
New Mexico Business Weekly - 12:15 PM MDT Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Albuquerque ranks first in home price appreciation in Housing Predictor's annual survey of the nation's top 25 markets. The DukeCity is projected to increase 9.1 percent this year.
New Mexico's growing statewide economy and its hunger for growth underpins the prediction.
"New Mexico may have the longest lasting booming real estate market in the nation," Housing Predictor's top 25 market report said. "New Mexico is one of the Sunbelt states that is still seeing unprecedented growth. People want to move to warmer climates and they doing it in droves."
Job growth in entertainment and technology is helping increase the state's population, the report says.
Las Cruces home prices are predicted to appreciate 4.1 percent and Santa Fe's to grow by 4.9 percent. The median home price in Albuquerque has increased nearly $20,000 in the past year, the report said, to $194,000.
McAllen, Texas ranks second behind Albuquerque at 8.9 percent and there are six other Texas cities in the top 25 including El Paso at No. 8. Salt Lake City, New Orleans and Austin round out the top five.
The positive prediction comes despite slipping home sales in the metro-Albuquerque market. Monthly homes sales have fallen by more than 10 percent each month since last summer, but despite the slowdown, prices have not dropped.
Magazine names ABQ among 50 hottest cities for expansion, relocation
New Mexico Business Weekly - 1:58 PM MST Thursday, February 15, 2007
Albuquerque has been named one of the hottest 50 cities for executives looking to expand or relocate their facilities.
Expansion Management magazine compiled its ninth annual list of the hottest cities for its January/February 2007 issue. The list is based on a survey of 80 industry site location consultants conducted by the magazine, who were asked to identify which cities, out of 362 metropolitan statistical areas, their clients find most attractive when actually selecting an expansion or relocation site and why these cities are appealing.
The listings are alphabetical and are not ranked numerically, as in previous years because, according to the article, the editors felt that numerical rankings diminished the importance of simply making the list.
Consultants ranked metro areas according to such factors as business environment, work force quality, operating costs, incentive programs, work force training programs and the ease of working with the local political and economic development communities.
Albuquerque was the only MSA in New Mexico on the list. Other hot Southwest cities include Denver, Phoenix and Flagstaff, Ariz.Texas has five MSAs on the list: Austin-Round Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Houston-Baytown-Sugarland, Longview and San Antonio.
ABQ named one of top 10 movie-making cities
New Mexico Business Weekly - January 31, 2007
MovieMaker magazine has named Albuquerque the No. 4 best American city for making movies in its Winter 2007 edition.
The list, which has been created for seven years, ranks New York City, Philadelphia and Austin ahead of Albuquerque in the current month's edition. All those cities have appeared on the list before -- it is Albuquerque's first year to be named.
The article about Albuquerque's film business cites the city's sunny climate, the state's film incentive package and the construction of Albuquerque Studios and its eight sound stages as major factors in making the city a hot spot for filming.
Behind Albuquerque on the list are No. 5 Las Vegas, Nev., previously unlisted; No. 6 Shreveport, La., previously unlisted; No. 7 Memphis, Tenn., which rose from the No. 10 spot on last year's list; No. 8 Miami, dipping by one notch from No. 7 last year; No. 9 Portland, Ore., which dropped from third place; and Salt Lake City, also previously unranked.
The magazine says the absence of Los Angeles from the list is not a mistake, but a deliberate choice made after interviews and research for the list.
Business Week names SandiaHeights one of best affordable suburbs
New Mexico Business Weekly - 3:00 PM MST Wednesday
Business Week has named SandiaHeights in Albuquerque as one of the 25 best affordable suburbs in the country.
The magazine worked with Sperling's Best Places in Portland, Ore., to come up with a list of suburbs with reasonable home prices and decent schools. The researchers qualify their results by explaining that schools in these areas might not be stellar, but they are better than average, and housing prices, while not dirt cheap, all have a median under $619,000.
The article quotesSanchez with Coldwell and praises SandiaHeights' spectacular city and mountain views, as well as the high number of smart residents with graduate degrees. The property tax rate is just seven percent because it is in BernalilloCounty rather than the city of Albuquerque, Sanchez told Business Week.
The median home price in SandiaHeights, at $332,800, is somewhat higher than the Albuquerque median of $194,700. The neighborhood is located east of Tramway Boulevard and north of the HighDesert development in the SandiaMountain foothills.
PRESS RELEASE
FROM:RE/MAX MastersCONTACT:A. Peter Veres
6705 Academy Rd NE505-362-2005
Albuquerque, NM87109email: Pete@nmelite.com
A. Peter Veres
COMPLETES BUYER SALES STRATEGY COURSE
FOR RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE
Albuquerque ? March 30, 2007 ? A. Peter Veres has just returned from Santa Fe where he completed a highly specialized course in residential real estate buyer sales strategies conducted by the Council of Residential Specialists of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
This course is one in a series of professional education sequences required to qualify for the coveted Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) designation.
"The growing importance of negotiation as well as sales strategies in today´s residential real estate market were addressed by the instructor in this course," said Pete Veres."The many and varied needs of the buyer, who is making what is probably the largest single purchase of a lifetime, is dealt with in this advanced course."
The segments of the course included counseling techniques, understanding human behavior and professional knowledge of the required steps in the real estate sales sequence.
The Council of Residential Specialists Courses are presented throughout the U.S. in affiliation with the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, as part of its on-going program of promoting the professionalism of the residential sales associate.
06/21/2006
Rio Rancho City Centre is coming together: City Hall ground-breaking is latest step
BY TOM TREWEEK/OBSERVER STAFF REPORTER
About one year from now, Rio Rancho's elected officials, city staff, and other prominent community members will be back at the site of the new City Hall. Likely, the weather will be similar, if not identical to Thursday's groundbreaking, but, if every one stands where they did last week, they will likely be much cooler.
The shovels for the groundbreaking were perched roughly where the atrium of the new 67,000-square-foot City Hall will be built, a spacious, glass-enclosed portion of the building that will allow guests to gaze upon the Sandia Mountains to the east or the City Centre Main Street to the west. And, using a geothermal heating and cooling system, the building will be cooler than the roasting temperatures at the site that day at less cost to the city than the current building incurs, according to city engineer Ken Curtis.
Several people on Thursday paced the cleared area that will be home to City Hall and wondered aloud where they will be working. Others pointed south to the Rio Rancho Events Center or east to Main Street or toward the future home of Lionsgate Films' new studio, trying to envision the final product.
Thursday's groundbreaking ushers in the next step in the project, the construction of City Hall, which will be the centerpiece of the downtown project.
Standing with the Sandia Mountains, nearly translucent in the rising sun, at his back, Mayor Kevin Jackson laid credit at the feet of City Manager Jim Palenick, who said he was able to see the finished downtown long before the first shovel entered the ground.
"You really need a city manager that has vision to make this happen," Jackson said.
After deflecting some of the praise to his staff, Palenick laid out his vision for City Hall.
"(This will) stand as the symbol of the city for a very long time," he said.
Gregory Hartman, the principal architect for the Albuquerque-based Hartman + Majewski Design Group, said designing the building proved to be a challenge because of the scenery that would surround it.
"It's kind of hard to talk about the building design when I'm standing framed by the magnificent Sandia Mountains," he said. "It's certainly a rare pleasure to be part of something like this."
That challenge carried over to the builders, who are now charged with creating the envisioned structure.
"We were a little hesitant coming into this project because it's so challenging," said Fred Gorenz, co-owner of Gerald Martin General Contractor, which will be building City Hall.
Construction efforts on the nearby arena and Main Street projects motored along as the delegates plunged their shovels into the compacted dirt that will soon be City Hall. Palenick has tentatively scheduled a July 2007 grand opening for the city's new headquarters, and representatives for Gerald Martin reported at the city council meeting the previous night that the project is on schedule and under budget.
According to some city officials, including Palenick and councilor Delma Petrullo, Curtis has been often overlooked in the process of creating a new City Hall and deserved the recognition Thursday.
Curtis, however, was much more modest when discussing his role.
"I'm not an architect. I'm don't build buildings," he said. "I just build civil things."
Curtis, who plans to visit the site weekly to keep tabs on the progress, said he has good people in his department that will be actively overseeing construction, which will hopefully match the pace of the arena construction.
"It seems like after last night (when the city council approved Lionsgate's proposal for a studio), things will go quickly," he said.
While arena and Main Street construction is underway, with the raising of City Hall soon to join, the next piece to the downtown puzzle is the city's contract with LWP, the firm that will design and build the retail portion of the City Centre.
Palenick said negotiations are currently underway on a contract. He hopes to have a contract in about three weeks that will be ready for the council's approval.
The retail construction, Palenick said, is a vital component of creating a successful downtown area.
"It's the thing that ties all this together ... filling everything around and in between," he said.
The City Centre concept, Palenick said, is something that has been done in other states, such as Arizona, but not here. When it is completed, he said, it is "really going to change New Mexico."
This article was published on: 06/01/2006 FRONT LINES: Economy
BY DAVID LEREAH
New cities in the spotlight
The housing boom is certainly cooling, but it´s also spawning a mini boom in markets that had been on the margins.
Although sales are down in cities like Phoenix, where the home-sale inventory rose to a 5.6-month supply from a 1.2-month supply in 2005, activity is up in cities such as Albuquerque, N.M.; Houston; and Salt Lake City that, during the last five boom years, had slower housing markets. What´s driving this turnaround in part is affordability. Households in pricey areas such as San Francisco, where the median home price is $730,000, are looking elsewhere. Salt LakeCity, perhaps?
The emerging boom cities´ healthy economies are key to their attraction, too. These are vibrant areas with solid job growth. When you match that vibrancy with moderate home prices, the pieces fall into place for the pickup in sales we´ve been seeing.
Of the 10 metropolitan areas showing the biggest year-over-year tightening in home-sale supply in February (an indicator of strong home sale activity), nine are markets with homes affordable to people earning the area´s median income: Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas; Houston; Kansas City, Mo.; Mobile, Ala.; Raleigh-Cary, N.C.; and San Antonio.
I expect these and other affordable and healthy areas to exhibit slow to moderate growth through 2006.
By contrast, the 10 areas seeing the most softening in inventories are all cities that were hot during the boom: Boston; Chicago-Naperville; Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Pa.; Orlando, Fla.; Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla.; Pensacola, Fla.; Phoenix; Tucson, Ariz.; Washington, D.C.; and Worcester, Mass.
On a positive note, the easing in these boom cities is measured, not abrupt, so the stage is set for a soft landing. That outcome makes sense, since the rapid price appreciation these areas saw during the boom years wasn´t without foundation; the areas were buoyed by strong economic growth, too.
It´s only when rapid home price appreciation isn´t accompanied by a growing economy-like what happened in Boston in the early 1990s-that you see market bubbles bursting.
This new mini boom is certainly good news for homeowners who watched in dismay as the big boom passed their slower markets by.
Lereah is senior vice president and chief economist for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
Albuquerque has recently received some exciting recognition on a national level, including being ranked #3 on Kiplinger's 50 Smart Places to Live and #1 on Forbes Magazine's Best Places for Business and Careers. Click here to view the Kiplinger's ranking, and here to view the Forbes ranking.
__________________________________________________________________________________ May 21, 2006
ALBUQUERQUECONTINUES ITS OWN TREND IN HOUSING SAYS MONEY MAGAZINE.
By Joshua Akers Journal Staff Writer Lions Gate Entertainment is coming to Rio Rancho. One of the largest independent film companies in the world is planning to build a $15 million studio in Rio Rancho's planned City Centre, the Albuquerque Journal has confirmed. The final details of the deal are being worked out and Rio Rancho city councilors are likely to vote on a series of land incentives for the company in early June. The studio's plans for Rio Rancho were revealed following a public records request filed with Rio Rancho by the Journal. Lions Gate Vice President Mark Manuel declined to comment Friday as he has done since the Journal turned down a request by Lions Gate to withdraw its records request with the city. The Journal was seeking details of the proposed deal, which includes 20 acres of free land, additional land for the company to do commercial development and a state investment of $7 million in the project in addition to a 25 percent tax break on all filming done in New Mexico. Earlier this month, Lions Gate had said it hoped to announce plans soon to build in Rio Rancho. An e-mail from Manuel on Friday said "no comment" and added that the company had no deal anywhere in New Mexico. City Manager Jim Palenick discussed the deal Friday, comparing it to Intel's decision to locate in Sandoval County. "This is huge. It's like years ago when that little company Intel came in and started making these crazy microprocessors in Rio Rancho," Palenick said. "This is another one of those seminal moments, another major industry, that in the long term people will look back on and say 'wow, that was really an important time when that happened.' '' He said he expects design and construction to start as soon as Lions Gate gets the land it is seeking. According to documents obtained by the Journal, Lions Gate is seeking 52.8 acres north of Rio Rancho's planned City Centre. The company plans to build three sound stages, two back lots and production offices in the first phase. If the City Council approves the deal, the city would give Lions Gate 20 acres valued at $1.1 million. The company would be required to create the equivalent of 596 full-time jobs, Palenick said. Lions Gate's proposal states it will create 385 full-time jobs and 1,500 part-time jobs. According to the company's executive summary, only five people will be employed to run the studio. Palenick said the other jobs would be provided by production companies using the studio. The city owns 12.8 acres that it will give to the company. The city will purchase another 40 acres from the State Land Office. Lions Gate would be required to pay for 32.2 acres plus the city's fees for acquiring the state land. Palenick said the city would front the money by paying the State Land Office for the land with a price likely to exceed $1 million. Lions Gate would be responsible for paying the city back. Lions Gate recently sold its Vancouver-based studio for $36 million. The studio sat on 14 acres. Palenick said the land was an important component of the deal. Not only does it allow for future expansion, but it gives the studio the opportunity to develop stores, hotels and restaurants.
'Clawback' The deal will include a five-year "clawback," Palenick said. If the company does not develop the land or chooses to leave in less than five years, Lions Gate would pay the city the assessed value of the land at that time minus what the company paid for the 32 acres, Palenick said. Lions Gate is filming the television series "Wildfire" in Rio Rancho. The series is responsible for creating the equivalent of nearly 300 full-time jobs, said Judi Snow, director of the Rio Rancho Convention and Visitors Bureau. Lions Gate is a publicly traded company valued at over $1 billion. Its film "Crash" won Best Picture at this year's Oscars. In 2005, the company produced 10 feature films, five television shows and other projects, expending over $200 million for those productions. According to the executive summary Lions Gate submitted to the city, the company expects the studio to be profitable in the first year. The company states that competition with additional studios such as Culver, which plans to build at Mesa del Sol, will be good for business and the state.
Under review Rio Rancho Economic Development Corp. is reviewing the company's proposal. Deputy State Land Commissioner Dennis Garcia said Friday that Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons is awaiting the proposal on the "Lions Gate property." Gov. Bill Richardson said earlier this month that the State Investment Council will put $7 million into the Lions Gate project. Charlie Wollmann, a spokesman with the State Investment Council, said Friday that potential partnerships with Lions Gate were still under review. Last month, the Journal filed a request With Rio Rancho to inspect records regarding Lions Gate Entertainment. Rio Rancho turned over a portion of the requested records earlier this month by providing e-mails about the deal, but attachments were left out. The city provided the attachments earlier this week but with a number of paragraphs redacted, or blacked out. The attachments detail Lions Gate's plans in Rio Rancho. Palenick said the redacted paragraphs dealt with information that was proprietary or no longer accurate. He said the city's response to the request was delayed because it was waiting on Lions Gate to determine what should be redacted. "We wanted to give it out. We didn't want to not disclose it, but we don't want the company feeling that they had legitimate proprietary information in there that they wouldn't want their competitors down the street to know," Palenick said. The redactions in the documents were called "mysterious" and "strange" after being reviewed by Bob Johnson, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. "Revenue projections I can understand," Johnson said. "But it makes no sense to redact things from paragraphs dealing with weather or land."
(May 11, 2006) -- Many cities that missed out on hot home sales over the past few years are now getting a taste of the frenzy. "The housing coin has flipped," says NAR chief economist David Lereah. "The haves and the have-nots reversed places."
Ask Don Bruemmer, a practitioner with Ramsey Group Real Estate in Salt Lake City, and he'll tell you sales are the best in years. Salt Lake City is one of the metros that seemed to be in the doldrums during many of the boom years while markets in California, Florida, and Washington, D.C., soared.
"The housing coin has flipped - sales are softening in (former) boom cities and gaining momentum in non-boom cities," says David Lereah, chief economist for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. "It appears the haves and the have-nots have reversed places. Quite simply, affordable metros are in favor and unaffordable metros are experiencing a correction."
Denver, Houston, and Albuquerque, N.M., also are experiencing resurgence in sales. "What all four of these metros have in common is a healthy local economy and affordable housing prices," says Lereah. "It´s becoming increasingly clear that in the aftermath of the boom, households are now seeking affordable property to purchase (and live in)."
Speaking at the 16th-annual outlook for Texas Land Markets last week, Mark Dotzour, chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said that as long as confidence in the stock market remains low real estate will continue to be the investment of choice.
Texas markets also rank high on the list of metros with the largest year-to-year decrease in the months´ supply of homes for sale. Austin, Texas experienced the largest decrease, falling from a 5.0-months´ supply in February 2005 to 4.3-months´ supply in February 2006. Other top 10 metros with declining days on marketincluded Houston, San Antonio, Raleigh-Cary, N.C., Albuquerque, N.M., Mobile, Ala., Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. Kansas City, Mo., Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La.
These markets, with the exception of Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla., which benefited from the boom, are considered affordable with median prices below the national median home price, which was $218,000 in March.
-By Camilla McLaughlin for REALTOR® Magazine Online ________________________________________________________________________________
New York, NY (May 4, 2006)-Albuquerque, New Mexico heads Forbes' Best Places for Business and Careers Survey (p. 196), up from fifth place last year. Perennial top 10 metros such as Atlanta (#15), Austin (#28) and Washington, D.C.-Northern Virginia (#17) fell from the highest rankings due to slowing income growth. This year's list expands to include the 200 largest metro areas, up from 150, thanks to reconfiguring statistical regions, splitting locales like Raleigh-Durham in two. Criteria for the ranking includes: business and living costs, the education of the work force, job and income growth, migration patterns over the past five years, crime rates and a culture-and-leisure index.
2006 Top Ten Places for Business and Careers: 1. Albuquerque, New Mexico (#5, 2005) 2. Raleigh, North Carolina (#2, 2005) 3. Houston, Texas (#13, 2005) 4. Boise, Idaho (#1, 2005) 5. Knoxville, Tennessee (#17, 2005) 6. Phoenix, Arizona (# 12, 2005) 7. Nashville, Tennessee (#43, 2005) 8. Durham, North Carolina (#2, 2005) 9. Fayetteville, Arkansas (#7, 2005) 10. Indianapolis, Indiana (#33, 2005)
For details on the 200 largest metro areas, and a ranking of 179 smaller ones, visit www.forbes.com/bestplaces