AGENT MLS HOME FINDER

The Santa Fe real estate market is closely related to the state of the overall New Mexico economy, and seems to have only enjoyed a limited boost from the federal stimulus efforts. However, the benefits of that program have been sufficient to induce additional efforts from government officials to extend the first time home buyer credit. According to a November 6, 2009 article in the New Mexico RealEstateRama, “Today, Congressman Harry Teague voted to extend critical benefits and tax relief programs to stimulate southern New Mexico’s economy. The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 will offer stability to families and businesses across America by extending immediate unemployment benefits, the homebuyers’ tax credit, and tax relief for military families and businesses.”

Recently, Santa Fe and New Mexico home sales have been muted, despite the efforts of the federal government, according to a November 6, 2009 article in the Las Cruces Sun-News. The piece, written by Brook Stockberger, found that “Through the end of October, 1,046 homes have been sold in Las Cruces, according to the Las Cruces Association of Realtors. That is off last year’s pace when 1,307 had moved off the market during the same time period and a dramatic difference from 2006 when 2,082 homes were sold through the first 10 months of the year. The average price of a home sold in October was $193,721. Last year  it was $221,480. The statistics are not a big surprise to most in the Las Cruces real estate industry. Since late 2007, the deteriorating national economy has cut into what was once a red-hot market.”

The problem of foreclosures for real estate in Santa Fe as well as nationwide was noted by an October 15, 2009 article in both the Associated Press and KRQE News. The piece, composed by Alan Zibel, found that “The number of households caught up in the foreclosure crisis rose more 5 percent from summer to fall as a federal effort to assist struggling borrowers was overwhelmed by a flood of defaults among people who lost their jobs. The foreclosure crisis affected nearly 938,000 properties in the July-September quarter, compared with about 890,000 in the prior three months, according to a report released by RealtyTrac Inc.”