• Gary Sandler
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    Published 15 January 2017

    Sales for all of 2016 were the highest in the past nine-years, according to statistical data plucked from the archives of the Las Cruces Association of Realtors on January 8th. Local Realtors sold a total of 1,682 new and existing homes, townhomes and condominiums in 2016, making it the best production year since 2007, when 1,877 residential sales were booked. The all-time best year on record was 2006, when 2,303 homes changed hands.

    New-home sales accounted for 175 of the 2016 closings, rising by 20-units, or 12.9 percent, over the 155 sales reported in 2015. Last year’s average price of $216,534 was $14,152, or 7.0 percent higher than 2015’s average price of $202,382. Builders achieved 99.4 percent of their asking prices and waited an average of 104 days for buyers to materialize. The average new home contained 1,816 square feet of heated and cooled living space and sold for $110.94 per square foot.

    A total of 1,507 existing homes, townhomes and condominiums were sold in 2016, besting by 177-units, or 13.3 percent, the 1,330 closings that took place in 2015. Sellers waited an average of 96-days to close their sales and received an average price of $175,682, or $93.30 per square foot, for homes containing an average of 1,883 square feet of living space. Similar gains were achieved when homes are categorized by property type.

    Free-standing single family homes accounted for 1,405 of the total number of sales and brought an average price of $180,439, which was just $184 higher than 2015’s average price of $180,255. The homes took an average of 96-days to sell, with sellers receiving an average of 95.1 percent of their asking prices.

    Townhomes, which are single-family homes connected by a common wall, were responsible for 57 of the total number of homes sold. That number was 14-units, or 19.7 percent, below the 71-units sold in 2015. 2016’s average sales price of $110,907 was also lower than it was a year earlier, falling by $1,427, or 1.3 percent, below 2015’s average sales price of $112,334. Sellers waited an average of 72-days to receive their sale proceeds after discounting their asking prices by an average of four percent.

    A total of 45 condominiums were sold in 2016, which represents a significant improvement over the 25-units sold during the previous year. Last year’s average sales price of $109,234 fell by $4,286, or 3.8 percent, however, from 2015’s average price of $113,520. Sellers waited an average of 121-days to sell their units and achieved 94.9 percent of their asking prices.

    It is interesting to note that 3-bedroom homes accounted of 63.7 percent of all sales. Four-bedroom homes made up 24.8 percent of the total, while 8.1 percent of homes contained 2 bedrooms. One-bedroom homes and homes containing five or more bedrooms made up 1.3 and 2.2 percent of the totals, respectively.

    In the end, new-home sales and prices both posted positive gains in 2016. At the same time, free-standing existing-home production was up, while values remained flat. Townhome production and prices both took a slight hit during 2016, while lower condominium prices spurred additional sales.

    See you at closing.

    Gary Sandler is a full-time Realtor and president of Gary Sandler Inc., Realtors in Las Cruces. He can be reached at (575) 642-2292 or Gary@GarySandler.com.

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      Gary Sandler