• Gary Sandler
    No Comments | 0 likes | 1,718 Viewers

    Published October 16, 2016

    The average sales price of the 413 existing homes, townhomes and condominiums sold during the third quarter of this year rose by $6,381, or 3.6% over the same period last year, according to statistics from the Las Cruces Association of Realtors. In comparison, 2015’s Q-3 average sales price of $177,686 was $1,195, or less than one percent higher than the $176,491 average recorded in 2014.

    Existing-home sales production also improved in the year-over-year survey, increasing by 30-units, or 7.8 percent over 2015’s same-quarter closings. The 383 closed sales recorded in 2015 exceeded 2014’s 348 sales by 35-units, or 10.0 percent. In the end, existing-home production rose more quickly between 2014 and 2015 that it did between 2015 and 2016.

    New-home sales paint a much different picture. Local homebuilders sold 51 newly-constructed homes through our local MLS system during July, August and September of this year, exceeding by 3-units last year’s same-quarter production of 48 closed sales. At the same time, sales prices took quite a beating. This year’s average selling price of $187,112 fell $32,490, or almost 15 percent, below the $219,602 average posted one year ago. Between 2014 and 2015, new-home prices rose by an average of $19,357, or 9.7 percent.

    So, what messages do the numbers send to our area’s buying and selling public? It appears that used-home prices posted respectable gains during the third-quarter of this year and rose faster than the current rate of inflation. It also appears that builders are currently selling more moderately-priced homes than in the past, indicating a continued lack of buyers in the upper price ranges.

    With interest rates continuing to hover at near-record lows of around 3.5 percent for a 30-year mortgage and 2.75 percent for the 15-year version, homeownership remains a viable alternative to renting.

    See you at closing.

    About author

    • About Author

      Gary Sandler