• Gary Sandler
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    Published October 2, 2016

    Before I begin, I want to correct an error that appeared in last week’s column regarding who owns your mortgage. The correct phone number for the MERS ServicerID® registration system is (888) 679-6377. My apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by the error. Now, on to today’s topic.

    Realtors field a lot of questions. One of the most commonly asked is “How’s the market?” The real question is, which one? The residence you occupy is a component of your neighborhood market, which is a component of the market in your part of town or suburb. Then there are the city and countywide markets. I could go on, but I’ll spare you the agony and focus on statistics from the Las Cruces Association of Realtors, which covers all of Dona Ana County and a small number of outlying areas. The statistical data, the majority of which pertains to the city of Las Cruces, were pulled on September 26th and include new and existing single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums.

    Number of homes for sale. There are currently 890 residential single-family properties for sale. Fifty are townhomes, and twenty-four are condominiums. The remaining 816 are free-standing homes, of which 68 are new construction. The average asking prices for townhomes and condominiums are $149,168 and $106,475, respectively. New-home asking prices average $241,804, while the average asking price for existing homes is $275,429.

    Number of sales and average selling price. A total of 1,023 homes were sold during the first 8-months of this year, which is two fewer than were sold during the same period in 2015. Townhome sales accounted for 38 of the closings and generated an average selling price of $108,143. The 29 condominium-sale closings generated an average selling price of $108,853. The 940 sales of existing homes brought an average sales price of $178,429. One hundred sixteen new homes were also sold during the period at an average price of $200,664.

    Price per square foot. This is a tricky comparison tool. For example, the price per square foot for two homes that are ostensibly the same age and size can vary greatly depending on other factors, such as lot size, location, amenities, quality of construction, and more. Suffice it to say that the averages may not represent the per-square-foot prices in a given geographical area or neighborhood. The average townhome that changed hands this year was built in 1990 and sold for $86.06 per square foot. The average age of the condominiums was 21-years and carried a dollar per square foot price of $93.81. New homes generated an average sales price of $110.86, and the average age and price per square foot of the existing homes were 26-years and $91.72, respectively.

    Absorption rate and days on market. The absorption rate is the rate at which available homes are sold in a specific real estate market during a given time period. It is calculated by dividing the total number of available homes by the average number of sales per month. A six-month supply of inventory represents a balanced market. The days-on-market numbers represent the time it took to sell during the current listing period.

    The absorption rate for new homes indicates a 21-month supply with an average time required to sell of 107 days. There’s currently a 16-month supply of existing homes with an average time-to-sell of 97-days. It’s interesting to note that the month’s supply is significantly lower in the entry-level ranges, in some cases as low as 3-months, and rises as the price-points increase. It took an average of 136-days to sell a condominium this year, with a 15-month supply. The current inventory of townhomes should last 8-months at the current sales rate, with an average market time of 78-days.

    Whether you’re buying or selling, understanding the behavior of the market segment you’re operating within can give you a distinct advantage when negotiating the best price.

    See you at closing.

    About author

    • About Author

      Gary Sandler