Last year, the 48 commercial real estate deals involving office, industrial, and retail properties nearly doubled the 29 deals in 2006. The deals, worth more than $415.1M, marked a banner year in Albuquerque commercial real estate. The market will be slowing back down this year, but not as severely as may occur in major metro markets. Albuquerque was the 61st largest metro in the country in 2006. Its comparatively small size insulates it from somewhat broader, more volatile economic forces. Factoring in the size and stability the govt and growing film industry sectors, and ABQ's prospects appear sound. The weakness of the dollar against foreign currencies may have its positive side for ABQ, as major corporations are reconsidering outsourcing to foreign countries such as India causing a push in the customer service sector. Labor costs are lower here, with the median annual wage of about $26K being 16.2% less than the national median. In the past few weeks there has been more interest in locating to the ABQ area than in the past six months.

Albuquerque Journal, March 24, 2008

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