This indicator is part of Active, safe downtown.

Indicator description:                                                           

This indicator measures the number, percentage, and median sales price of single family homes sold in downtown and in the greater Albuquerque area from 1999 to 2007. The median price per square foot is also shown. Data are presented for downtown as defined by the realty industry, bounded on the north by I-40, the east by I-25, the south by Avenida Cesar Chavez, and the west by the Rio Grande River. Median prices are more representative of housing costs than other measures since exactly half of all sales prices are higher than the median and exactly half are lower. Although the data shown are for single family home sales, other low-cost housing options are available to residents.

Why is this indicator relevant?

A vital and active downtown area should have places to live as well as places to work, shop, and be entertained. Such housing, particularly single family homes, should be accessible to people of various income levels. The median sales price and the price per square foot are good indicators of how accessible downtown housing is to persons with different levels of income.

Data Source:
Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors, 1999 to 2007.

What can we tell from the data?

• Housing prices in the greater Albuquerque area have risen since 1999 but downtown housing has risen at a faster rate.
• The price per square foot of a house in the greater
  Albuquerque area increased 28% between 1999 and 2007.
  The price per square foot of a house in the downtown area increased 101% in the same period.
• Both the median sales price and the price per square foot of a single family home in the downtown area now exceeds the similar price of a home elsewhere in Albuquerque.
• In spite of rising prices, downtown houses sold has remained between 1.48% and 2.02% of all houses sold in the greater Albuquerque area. The number sold increased in all but two years of nine years shown, 2000 and 2007.

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