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Here’s the 4th quarter market_report for Santa Fe. It shows a slight fall in average home price, and a drop of 18% in homes on the market. We are certainly not immune from the national trends, and the average number of home sales monthly has dropped from about 180 to 120, although we’ve seen a slight uptick in January.
What does it mean? A great time to get into Santa Fe, with loans available at around 5.5% and sellers getting the message that they need to sharpen their pencil on pricing.
In my own business, I am noticing no fall in the desire of people to buy a home in Santa Fe, for vacation or retirement – and just as soon as they 
sell their property in Connecticut, California, Arizona or Florida – to name 4 clients in the wings – they’ll be hot footing it to the City Different.
So as the market nationwide shakes out through this year, I think Santa Fe’s steady-as-she-goes market conditions will return.
CNBC is reporting that the economic stimulus package doing the rounds in Washington will include a one-time increase in ‘conforming loans’ from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from $470,000 to $625,000. This will give Santa Fe real estate the kick it needs because:
1. There are buyers out there. I meet them every day, and they’re just itchin’ to get into the market but want to buy at the right time. Nobody can ever predict the “low”, but everybody wants to try.
2. With Santa Fe’s relatively pricey market, an increase in the conforming loan limit means that people can get loans for the majority of properties in town at rates less than 6%
3. The time limit of this deal means people have to act soon – nothing like a deadline to get buyers going, and to get sellers positioning their properties for a smooth sale.
4. Santa Fe has always been a solid, stable real estate investment, with inventory well matched to buyers. This incentive can once again highlight what Santa Fe has to offer as a haven for smart investors, rather than have us all focus on the gloomy headlines.
The Q4 report from the Santa Fe Association of Realtors is out today. It shows a drop in home sales across the board (almost) and a drop in the town’s median selling price. The homes that are selling are realistically priced, and the people that are buying are better qualified, with better credit scores. Points up the value of being prepared, as a buyer or seller, for the new marketplace. The report is attached.
An exception to the gloom is the Northwest (las Campanas and environs) where higher priced homes outsold their 2006 level. One reason for the increasing volume there is that relatively suddenly it’s become an area of great value. Over the next year that value proposition will increase, with homes in the $600,000 range coming online. Santa Fe 2007 FourthQuarter.doc
I’m reading about the horrific housing situation on the coasts, with houses going for 20% less than their lowest asking, and land prices at 80% off. This doesn’t happen in Santa Fe, and often I am faced with people from these coasts considering offers on Santa Fe houses that will never be accepted. Santa Fe is a relatively stable market. Although transactions were down considerably this year (20%+ over the summer selling period), prices have held fairly steady. Most homes here sell for around the asking price – rarely less than 96% of asking. So, dear reader, if you’re coming here from the Inland Empire, Scottsdale or Miami, please make offers that will make the transaction move, not ones that’ll stop the process dead in its tracks!
The rates are down, lenders are interested in lending to qualified buyers (yes, even up to 100% – ask me!)
There is a fabulous inventory of wonderful homes from early $200′s up to millions of dollars just waiting for Buyers to select from. NOW, is the time visit Santa Fe and buy a home. Sellers are very realistic, and most of them are willing to come to agreements where there is sense on both sides.
Let’s put great people into great homes….
Santa Fe Properties’ Q2 property newsletter is now available, and it’s here
.
"Home sales did achieve their anticipated bounce this quarter, rising
25% above the low point reached last quarter and terminating a
three-quarter drop of over 40%. Still, second quarter home sales
are 28% below last year, as were the first quarter results. Strong
demand in the mid-to-high price ranges nudged the overall average
to another all-time high of $466,000 in spite of fewer sales. This
exact pattern also appeared in the 1994 -1995 market adjustment.
The recovery, if history repeats itself, will see a seven quarter
consolidation around the present level of sales, followed by a new
uptrend…."
Santa Fe home sales down; median price rise
Santa Fe homes sales decreased 27.7 percent during this year’s first
quarter compared to the same time last year, according to newly
released statistics.
Prices remained stable, however, increasing by 13.3 percent in the city and county to a median price of $425,000.
The Santa Fe Association of Realtors,
which released the numbers Thursday, attributes the downturn in sales
to unusually severe winter weather and not to the sales decline being
seen nationwide, said Pat Pipkin, the association’s president and a
Realtor at Santa Fe Properties.
But a comparison of Santa Fe’s
sales numbers to national numbers shows that sales in Santa Fe have
followed the general national trend in decreasing sales.
Nationally,
existing-home sales peaked in July 2005, with 7.13 million sales, but
fell 11.2 percent to 6.33 million in July 2006, according to the
National Association of Realtors.
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In Santa Fe, sales of new and existing
single-family homes peaked in the third quarter of 2005, with 537 sales
in the city and county, according to statistics from the Santa Fe
Association of Realtors. In the third quarter of 2006, those sales were
down 22.2 percent to 418.
Buyers in New Mexico Find Views, and Value – New York Times.
Mr. Watters said they chose Talavera (near Las Cruces) because the desert area still
feels as if it is outside of town but it is within a 15-minute drive of
shops and restaurants in Las Cruces, and only a 45-minute drive to El
Paso, Tex. As head of the local Hog Club, a group of people who ride
Harley Davidson motorcycles, Mr. Watters liked the feel of the open
desert but needed his home to be accessible by paved roads, many of
which were not here only a few years ago.
“We were up there
yesterday,” Mr. Watters said. “It’s just like heaven. Over the last
couple of days they put up the posts and beams that frame the mountain
view, and it’s breathtaking.”
Here’s a new listing of mine – 3 bed/2 bath home with a small studio in downtown Santa Fe, offered at $625,000. The neighborhood, South Capitol, is incredibly convenient – minutes walk from great schools, from Trader Joes, Whole Foods, etc.
The house is on a corner lot, behind high walls, so it feels peaceful and tranquil. Landscaped yard. Off street parking. More details are here Call me if you want to see this or any other Santa Fe home. Here’s a flyer in pdf
, for easy printing.
- About Frank O’Mahony
- Visit my website
- email me!
- phone: 505.699.3985
Main Office: 505.982.4466
Santa Fe Properties, 1000 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe NM 87501
