FORECAST OF ABQ REAL ESTATE FOR 2009

"It is the worst or times and the best of times". So what do we see for 2009 in terms of home sales? David Murphy who heads up SalesTraq shared his predictions which I would like to share. The question is will 2009 bring a bottoming out of home prices in ABQ? Certainly, interest rates are at all time lows, but the new hurdles of higher credit scores and more money down is keeping buyers on the sidelines. People are worried about their jobs so unwilling to take a chance to buy. He raises the issue of affordability too. The average wage earner in ABQ made $37,352 in 2008 which qualifies them for a home of $112,000; a two-earner family would qualify for $224,000. And those homes are selling better. It's the homes above that amount that are languishing on the market and may continue to do so until the economy strengthens and confidence in it increases. So 2009 certainly for the first half, will see a glut of homes perceived as too expensive by nervous buyers. Each deal done is a struggle but doable. As David's father told him, "The sun will come up tomorrow."