The inventory is down year over year. Alicia and Susan sold 25% of the homes over $800,000 for the last two quarters of the year. We also are experts in short sales and homes in all price categories.

Rates for U.S. 30-year mortgages climbed from the lowest level on record after Federal Reserve officials pledged to keep their benchmark interest rate near zero through at least late 2014 to help bolster the economy.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan rose to 3.98 percent in the week ended today from 3.88 percent, the lowest in records dating to 1971, Freddie Mac said in a statement. The average 15-year rate increased to 3.24 percent from 3.17 percent, according to the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage- finance company.

The 30-year rate has been below 4 percent for eight straight weeks. The Fed yesterday extended its previous plan to keep rates low at least until the middle of 2013 as more than two years of economic growth have failed to push unemployment below 8.5 percent. Low borrowing costs are helping support the housing market, which has been hurt by the high jobless rate and foreclosures that depress values and erode buyer confidence.

“Mortgage rates are very, very low and housing is very affordable,” Celia Chen, housing economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview before the data were issued. “The distressed sales are still a weight on the market.”

Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 10:12am MDT

The tax-free weekend is Aug. 5-7.New Mexico’s annual tax-free weekend takes place Aug. 5-7. The event is designed to give teachers and families a chance to buy back-to-school items at a lower cost.

Throughout the weekend, items such as school supplies, clothing, computers and computer equipment will be exempt from gross receipts taxes at participating businesses. The gross receipts tax rate varies throughout the state from about 5.1 percent to 8.9 percent.

 

There is some positive information regarding the job market in New Mexico.  As reported in The New Mexico Business Weekly, August 1, 2011, things are on a small, but positive, increase.

The movement to shrink the size of government isn’t as strong as you might think.

Thirty-five states (and the District of Columbia) have actually added government jobs since 2006. Increases have been greater than 10,000 jobs in 11 of those states, as well as D.C.

Texas is leading the way, as it does in all employment categories. The number of federal, state and local government workers in Texas grew by 168,600 between the midpoints of 2006 and 2011, according to seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The runners-up are Maryland (up 28,300 government jobs in five years) and Virginia (up 27,200).

New Mexico gained 4,500 jobs during the five year time frame, ranking it No. 20 in the report, a gain of 2.32 percent.

The biggest exception to this national trend is economically troubled California, which has pared 55,200 government positions since 2006. Next are Michigan (down 43,700) and Ohio (down 36,100). Statistics for every state can be found in the database at the bottom of the story at this link.

Previous reports this week by On Numbers have examined nonfarm employment at the state level, as well as trends in the  business-services, leisure and  retail sectors.

“Detached, single-family homes going under contract in June stayed above 900 for the third month in 2011 and rose 28.12 percent from the previous year.

Detached home sales for June 2011 show an in- crease for the sixth consecutive month.
For detached homes, the average sale price is up 4.52 percent and the median sale price increased 0.91 percent from the previous month.”

http://www.gaar.com/images/uploads/statistics/June2011_MarketMonthly.pdf

July statistics should be out by the middle of August, it will be interesting to see if the pending sales turned into closed sales. Let me know if you have any questions about the market or specific market statistics.