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Dec 11, 2022 Las Cruces-area home-sale decline began in April

Gary Sandler

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Published 11 December 2022

The year began as did countless others before it, with a relatively low number of contracts signed and expectations of increased sales as the year progressed. All went as planned — for a month. The 219 purchase agreements for new and existing single-family homes purchased in February marked a 12-unit increase over the 207 contracts signed in January. Then came March, when once again 219 purchase agreements were signed. What was unknown at the time is that March and April would represent our area’s peak months of the year for newly minted sale agreements.

Beginning in April and continuing to this day, the number of buyers and sellers signing purchase agreements steadily declined. In November, the latest month for which statistics are available, just 135 homebuyers signed up to purchase single-family homes (condos and townhomes occupy a separate category). As the number of signed purchase agreements declined throughout the year, so would the number of closings 30-60 days into the future. After registering 186 closings in January, the number of closed sales continued to rise each month until hitting this year’s peak production in April. The number of closed sales then began to fall, from April’s 217 to just 120 in November.

Our inventory of unsold single-family homes began the year at 240 units in January, before reaching its peak of 337 homes for sale on December 12, the date this column was penned. During the same period, the median price (where half sold for more and half sold for less) fluctuated between $279,500 in January to $303,000 in October. The median price fell to $279,250 in November.

There was a time when what was happening in Las Cruces trailed what was taking place in other parts of the country by roughly one year. Today, what’s happening in Las Cruces is mirroring what’s happening throughout the country in real time.

See you at closing!

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

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