CORRALES — Assessing the housing outlook across the village of Corrales, Corrales Home Realty’s Ann Taylor noticed something that carried over from 2021: higher demand and prices, with a lower inventory.
“It seems to be the same,” Taylor said. “Everybody decided to move at the beginning of 2021. I mean, the whole United States decided to move.”
She said she noticed some people moved from Albuquerque, and from regions like the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest, to Corrales in 2021 with the goal of a quieter, safer life.
“It’s the safest town in New Mexico, so we’re getting a lot of that. We’re getting people from everywhere,” she said.
This 4,511-square-foot home at 505 Morning Sun Trail in Corrales is listed as “For Sale” on realtor.com as of Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, with a price of $625,000. (Matt Hollinshead/Observer)
She also said that while she knows of no development currently going on in Corrales, with a village rule that projects be limited to one house per net acre of land, the demand and intrigue in relocating to Corrales continue.
There’s also the appeal of outdoor recreation opportunities in a more countryside-type setting.
“Corrales has lots of pathways for pedestrians, equestrians, cyclists and outdoor activity,” Taylor said. “Because of COVID, people have wanted to get outside. They’re tired of being sheltered inside, and they see Corrales as a place they can do that. I think that has influenced this market.”
Taylor said the average home sale price in Corrales at the end of 2021 was approximately $679,000.
“We still have cash buyers. We had quite a lot of cash buyers, actually, for quite some time. And with interest rates lowering, I think a lot of people decided that the wiser thing to do was to finance or leverage their property at a low interest rate,” she said. “People, they’re either qualified for loans or they’re bringing cash.”
When it comes to the limited supply, she said it may be the result of sellers’ hesitancy to put their current home on the market because they don’t have another place lined up.
“I think that we see some fear in the market about being able to find another home to replace the one that people are living in,” she said.
Now that the housing market’s slowing down, Taylor said more homebuilding projects are underway.
“Lots are selling really well. Builders are getting backed up,” she said, adding the saturated rental market also played a role. “The resale market was so strong that some people decided to start building. That increased the building industry, which is doing very well right now… It’s been just a domino effect.”
She said she hopes extra inventory will pick up again to help meet that continuing demand. At the same time, she also said one will have to exhibit patience throughout the process of securing a home.
“It’s really a catch-22 right now. People are waiting for those properties to become available, but they also are waiting to see where they can go if they sell their house,” she said. “That’s where a lot of our pent-up demand is, and it’s just sitting here. … We’re just in a waiting period, in a way. Houses are moving, but much slower than they should be.”
