During the past 20 years, the median price of an existing single family home in metro Albuquerque has gone from $144,100 (in 2008 dollars, that is, adjusted for inflation) to $186,500, says the annual "State of the Nation's Housing" report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. (See www.jchs.harvard.e du/son/index.htm.) The price increase reflects more amenities and larger homes.

The metro's average mortgage payment, also in inflation-adjusted dollars, has been just over $1,000. The payment was $1,169 in 1989 and $1,043 in 2008.

 Baby boomers, echo boomers and immigrants will drive housing demand the next ten years. Baby boomers start turning 65 in 2011. They will boost the number of retiree households.   JCHS projections show the number of households with heads aged 65-74 will grow at least 6.7 million from 2010 to 2020. Households with heads aged 75 or over will increase by at least 2.4 million.

 Echo boomers, the children of the baby boomers, are entering their peak household formation years of 25-44 with about five million more members than the baby boomers in the 1970s.

Even under low immigration assumptions, minorities will fuel 73% of household growth in 2010-20, with Hispanics leading the way at 36%. Nationally, the minority share of households should increase from 29% in 2005 to 35% in 2020. New Mexico, as one of four majority-minority states, will reflect these national trends..

JCHS indicates the situation in the four states taking the brunt of the real estate problems the past few years. Foreclosure rates in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida went from under 0.9% at the start of 2007 to 5.9% by the end of 2008. The Mortgage Bankers Association, says that in the first quarter of 2009, the four states had nearly 800,000 outstanding loans in foreclosure, 46% of the national total.