At the June 2026 endpoint, Zillow's ZIP market identifier posts a typical observed asking-rent index of $1,019 per month, 3.56% above the same month a year earlier. The Albuquerque city context is $1,485.51, the Bernalillo County context is $1,488, and the Albuquerque, NM metro context is $1,522; each is wider-area context, not a ZIP rental comparable. The immediate tension is therefore a ZIP rent level well below all three broader benchmarks even as the local index is moving upward. That tension should be read with the distinct source definitions below and with the separate direct ZIP resale record rather than translated into a claim about any specific dwelling.
The five-digit label 87108 is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, whereas the ACS 2024 five-year matched ZCTA reports a $872 median gross rent among occupied renter homes. ACS gross rent includes selected utilities and is a survey measure, not current asking rent. The current asking index is 16.9% above that ACS median, a gap that identifies differing time frames, populations, and rent concepts rather than a unit-level discrepancy.
HUD's FY2026 FMR/SAFMR ladder is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. Its local two-bedroom standard is $1,464. Scaling the current ZIP ZORI by that local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $702 for a studio, $825 for one bedroom, $1,019 for two bedrooms, $1,417 for three bedrooms, and $1,670 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: the two-bedroom figure equals the index by construction, while the other figures inherit the HUD bedroom ratios. They do not establish current availability, lease terms, utilities, condition, or a rent for a particular home.
The affordability screen is deliberately narrow arithmetic: applying a 30% rent share to the monthly index produces $40,760 in annual required income. That compares with a $42,724 ACS matched-ZCTA median household income and an asking-rent-to-income reading of 28.6%, but it is not advice, an applicant qualification rule, or evidence that every renter has that income. The burden evidence is less comfortable: 5,868 of 10,666 surveyed renter households, or 55.0%, paid gross rent at or above the burden threshold. That share exceeds 52.4% in the Albuquerque city context and 52.0% in the Bernalillo County context, both wider survey contexts. Gross-rent burden cannot prove the cost or stress attached to a particular unit.
The matched ZCTA housing-stock snapshot contains 19,031 housing units: 17,064 occupied and 1,967 vacant, for a 10.3% overall vacancy rate. Of vacancies, 690 are classified for rent. Renters occupy 62.5% of occupied homes, confirming that the ZIP's occupied housing base is renter-majority. Those counts describe survey-period stock and categories, not a live vacancy feed. In particular, a vacant-for-rent count does not show that any named unit is suitable, available now, affordable, or offered under comparable terms.
History supports a stable-growth reading but not a projection. Exact same-month Zillow ZORI changes through the endpoint were 3.56% over one year, 3.56% annualized over three years, and 6.59% annualized over five years. The recent direction therefore confirms the longer upward path, while its pace is slower than the five-year path. Annualized monthly-return variability was 2.76%, maximum drawdown was a 2.54% decline, and history coverage was 100%. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 756 for momentum, 1,167 for stability, and 584 for the balanced measure, with lower ranks higher. These backward-looking measurements provide a stability frame for the current index snapshot, but variability and index aggregation restrict confidence to the index rather than any property; they are not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Redfin's direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation is a for-sale record, not rental transactions or rental comparables. It reports a $305,881 median sold price, up 5.48% from the corresponding period, with 82 homes sold and a median 40 days on market. Its inventory reading is 63 homes and months of supply is 2.3. Sellers received 98.41% of list price on average, and 17.52% of sales closed above list; these are sale-to-list signals within resale evidence only. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is a 4.00% cross-source screening ratio, not property economics. The faster resale price change confirms positive direction across both series but challenges a simple rental-affordability reading, because the sale series is moving at a different pace and measures a distinct market.
Several limits remain material. Zillow is an index rather than a unit quote; ACS is a matched-ZCTA survey rather than a USPS delivery-ZIP measure; HUD is an administrative standard; and Redfin records closed for-sale activity rather than leases. The relevant property-level checks are a current asking rent matched to actual bedroom count, lease length, concessions, and utility responsibility; the unit's condition and availability; the applicable map boundary; and nearby closed sales matched for property type, size, and sale date. Those checks preserve each source's role instead of blending them into one answer. Does the particular unit's current terms align with the index, the modelled ladder, and the separate resale evidence?
","findings":[{"body":"The current Zillow ZIP asking-rent index sits below the named Albuquerque city, Bernalillo County, and Albuquerque metro context figures, while the index still posted a positive same-month annual change. This is a relative positioning signal, not a comparable-unit result. The broader figures use wider geographic scopes, and the ZIP index blends rental types rather than describing any one available home.","title":"Current rent is low versus broad contexts"},{"body":"The arithmetic income screen uses a fixed rent share and compares the index with a broad household-income median; it does not evaluate an applicant. In contrast, ACS burden data report that a majority of surveyed renter households cross the gross-rent burden threshold. Because ACS gross rent includes selected utilities and covers occupied homes, this burden measure should not be assigned to a listed unit.","title":"Burden complicates the income screen"},{"body":"Same-month rent history stayed positive over each reported horizon, although the recent annualized pace trails the longer five-year pace. Complete history coverage, contained monthly-return variability, and a limited drawdown add context to the current index snapshot. The national discovery ranks are transparent comparative tools with lower ranks higher; they are backward-looking measurements and do not turn observed history into a forecast.","title":"History is positive but moderated"},{"body":"Redfin's rolling ZIP resale data show a rising median sold price, completed sales, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list outcomes, all within the for-sale universe. The resale price change was faster than the asking-rent index change, which supports common positive direction but challenges a single affordability interpretation. The annual-rent-to-sale-price calculation is only a cross-source screen, not a measure of property economics.","title":"Resale record creates a separate tension"}],"risks":["Zillow's index combines rental types and is not a bedroom-specific listing series; a particular unit's condition, lease term, concessions, utility treatment, and availability can produce a materially different asking figure.","The matched ZCTA is a statistical area rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, while ACS is a survey of occupied renter homes; boundary correspondence, timing, and sampling uncertainty limit unit-level comparisons.","HUD's bedroom ladder is an administrative standard, so scaling the Zillow index produces modelled estimates rather than observed rents; utility charges, concessions, condition, and lease duration may materially alter a unit's payment.","Redfin's figures concern closed for-sale transactions and listing-market signals, not rental leases; the cross-source rent-price screen excludes property-specific costs, financing, physical characteristics, and transaction differences."],"qa":[{"a":"They answer different questions. Zillow ZORI is a current ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS is a five-year matched-ZCTA survey of occupied renter homes, and its median gross rent includes selected utilities. The ZCTA is statistical and does not exactly reproduce the USPS delivery ZIP boundary.","q":"Why do Zillow and ACS rents differ?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates created by scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative standard rather than asking rent, so the ladder does not measure current bedroom-specific listings, occupancy, unit condition, concessions, or utility treatment.","q":"Are bedroom values observed rents?"},{"a":"The screen simply annualizes the ZIP index and divides by the stated rent-share threshold. It is arithmetic, not financial advice or an applicant qualification rule. ACS household income and burden are broad survey statistics, and the burden result describes occupied renter households rather than the cost, eligibility, or strain of any particular unit.","q":"Does the income screen determine whether a household can rent here?"},{"a":"Keep the records separate. Redfin's rolling ZIP observation reports for-sale transactions and listing-market conditions, while Zillow reports an asking-rent index. Dividing annualized ZORI by median sold price is a cross-source screening ratio only. It can flag a tension in observed series, but cannot establish rental income, expenses, or transaction-level property economics.","q":"How should resale evidence be combined with rent evidence?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR 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