Albuquerque Needs More Homes, and Working Families Feel It First

Albuquerque is short on housing, and especially short for the families least able to cope.

At the city level, Mayor Tim Keller estimates that Albuquerque lacks about 20,000 housing units to meet demand (Source NM). Statewide, the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority calculates a shortage of roughly 32,000 units, with most of that need in the Albuquerque area, while New Mexico rents rose about 18% over two years (KRQE). Looking further ahead, Housing New Mexico’s 2026 strategy update estimates nearly 58,000 new units will be needed statewide by 2045 (Housing New Mexico).

Worse, the housing shortage is concentrated unevenly. The City’s own 2024 Housing Needs Assessment found an estimated shortage of 18,370 rental units in Albuquerque most aligned with households earning 30% of area median income or less, a gap that grew by 2,639 units between 2010 and 2022. Homeownership is even further out of reach: in 2022, 60% of Albuquerque renters earned below 80% of area median income, yet only 20% of homes for sale were affordable to them (City of Albuquerque). And according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an Albuquerque metro renter needs to earn $23.50 an hour at full-time hours just to afford a one-bedroom apartment (City Desk ABQ).

The people affected by these statistics are at every corner of our community: teachers, healthcare workers, tradespeople, and young families who can’t find an affordable home, let alone buy one.

Where Adobe Pathway Comes In

Adobe Pathway is an Albuquerque nonprofit built to help close that gap. We build quality homes and sell them to income-qualified buyers, using city, state, national, and private funding sources, plus buyer assistance to bring prices within reach. Deed restrictions recorded at closing keep each home affordable for the next buyer too.

Affordable homes do not need to come with lower quality. Our founders bring nearly 30 years of New Mexico homebuilding experience, deep roots in Albuquerque, and backgrounds in construction, project management, and public funding. Learn more about us.