2014 Fourth Quarter Market Update

Continued Stability

The Santa Fe real estate market closed out the final quarter of 2014 relatively unchanged— continuing the stability it had experienced during the preceding two quarters.

  • According to the Santa Fe Association of Realtors, when compared to one year ago, units sold, average days on market and average sales price remained only slightly changed with a slight increase in number of units sold (99).
  • As one examines the breakdown of closed sales, a clearer picture emerges showing double-digit or near double-digit percentage increases in four of six price categories, with healthy increases in the $750,000 to $999,999 ranges (+14.15%) and the all-important ranges of $1M to $2M (+8.88%).
  • Average days on the market remains relatively stable in most price categories with an impressive decline in days on market found in residences priced above $2M, a reflection of the fact that sellers in this price category were pricing homes more realistically from the point of view of active buyers.
  • Seventy-six percent of all Multiple Listing Service recorded sales were under $500,000, a mere two percent decline in that price category from one year ago.

As we enter the first quarter of 2015, it appears that the stability achieved throughout 2014 will continue to be the trend at least for the not-too-distant future.

Click here for the 2014 Fourth Quarter Market Update report.

My hope is that you find this update helpful and informative, with links to articles and market trends.  If you are in the market to buy or sell or know someone who is, please allow me to be of assistance!

Warmest regards,

SigB

Pending Home Sales Stall in December, but…

NAR colorWASHINGTON (January 29, 2015) – Despite interest rates being at their lowest level of 2014, pending home sales cooled in December but remained above year-over-year levels for the fourth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All major regions experienced declines in December.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says fewer homes available for sale and a slight acceleration in prices likely led to December’s decline in contract signings. “Total inventory fell in December for the first time in 16 months, resulting in fewer choices for buyers and a modest uptick in price growth in markets throughout the country,” he said. “With interest rates at lows not seen since early 2013, the strength in existing-sales in upcoming months will largely depend on the willingness of current homeowners to realize their equity gains from the past couple years and trade up.”

Adds Yun, “More jobs, increasing consumer confidence, less expensive mortgage insurance and new low down payment programs coming into the marketplace will likely lead to more demand from first-time buyers.”

Total existing-homes sales in 2015 are forecast to be around 5.26 million, an increase of 6.6 percent from 2014. The national median existing-home price for all of this year is expected to increase between 4 and 5 percent. In 2014, existing-home sales declined 3.1 percent and prices rose 5.8 percent.

Read the full article.

2014 Third Quarter Market Update

Stable Market – A Welcome Sign

During the third quarter of 2014, the real estate market in Santa Fe positioned itself as relatively stable with median prices showing a slight decline and average prices reflecting an ever-so-slight increase, according to the Santa Fe Association of Realtors.

  • 77 percent of sales in the market remain under $500,000 while sales at or above that mark remain static as well.
  • Average days on market in the upper end of the market ($1M and above) declined rather dramatically even as inventory in the same price ranges increased by more than 12 percent from one year ago.

As the final quarter of 2014 approaches, the catch word to describe the current local real estate market appears to be “stable,” a welcome sign as we prepare to enter the final stretch of the year.

Click here for the 2014 Third Quarter Market Update report.

My hope is that you find this update helpful and informative, with links to articles and market trends.  If you are in the market to buy or sell or know someone who is, please allow me to be of assistance!

Warmest regards,

SigB

10 Top Mountain Bike Towns – Santa Fe, NM

by Kristin Butcher, TheActiveTimes.com

Sante Fe ha102495s plenty in its favor. It’s an artsy town with beautiful views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and it’s more than 400 years old, which is flat-out cool. Riding past adobe architecture and galleries, riders can pedal to more than 50 miles of trail and choose whether to get lost in the 30-mile spaghetti bowl of twisty Dale Ball trails, head out for more technical adventures on the Whoops, or treat themselves to 8 miles of giggle-inducing downhill on the Windsor Trail.

Read the full article

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Plan Your Next Trip to Santa Fe

SantaFeDotOrg

The Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau website offers loads of information about upcoming events, where to stay, where to eat – and even where to find services for your pet.

Visit SantaFe.org – a great resource for planning your next trip to Santa Fe.

Forbes Travel Guide: Spending Two Perfect Days In Santa Fe

DeMarco Williams, Contributor

You’ve FTG-NMMuseumofArt-Credit-ChrisCorrie-SantaFeConventionandVisitorsBureau-300x200seen blue skies before, but you haven’t seen them quite like this. Santa Fe’s blue looks almost Photoshopped it’s so crisp. Combine that piercing hue with the earth-toned adobe buildings the area is synonymous with, and you have the kind of breathtaking scene a writer would go on and on about in a sonnet. And wouldn’t you know it? Many have. A muse if there ever was one, The City Different, as Santa Fe is lovingly referred, has inspired the words of Willa Cather, the brushstrokes of Georgia O’Keeffe and the design sketches of Tom Ford. After 48 hours in the New Mexico capital city, a similar feeling will resonate in you. You won’t necessarily be sparked to create a work of art all your own, but you’ll certainly have a better understanding as to why others were motivated to do so.

Read more…

Great Food in New Mexico

Santa Fe’s 10 Best Cultural RestaurantsPepper Plate

Famous for being the oldest capital in the United States, the beautiful desert town of Santa Fe provides a melting pot of cultural cuisines. From traditional New Mexican bean and chilli-based dishes to contemporary fusions influenced by South-western, Mexican, Mediterranean, Asian and African cuisine, Santa Fe’s culinary scene is generous, full of flavour and based on the freshest locally produced ingredients as the following restaurants reveal.

Read more…

2013 Third Quarter Update

The holiday season is upon us!  I wish you and your family all the blessings of the season.

In the third quarter of 2013, the Santa Fe real estate market has shown continued, yet gradual, signs of improvement.  Most notable is the highest sale of 2013, which occurred in later October, for just under $4,000,000.  Sotheby’s represented the seller in that transaction.

Some of the positive signs from the third quarter of 2013 are expressed in “A Message from Our Qualifying Broker: Promising Signs”.

More Useful Links

The First Three Quarters of 2013 in Review

  • Land sales increased by 75 units, or 33.04%, from January through September 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. This upward trend can be attributed to the corresponding decrease in land prices.
  • Total units sold for the first three quarters of 2013 outperformed the same period last year by 11.05%.  This improvement was seen in both land and residential sales, including single family homes, townhouses and condominiums.  May 2013 was the best month for land sales with 22 more parcels sold than in May 2012.  For residential sales, July through September 2013 were the high-performing months, with 47 more residential units sold compared to the same period in 2012.  Residential sales had an overall increase of 7.29% for the first three quarters of 2013 over the same period last year.
  • 77.1% of all residential sales in the first three quarters of 2013 were priced below $500,000; 18.4% of the sales were in the price range between $500,000 and $1,000,000; and 4.5% of the sales were priced over $1,000,000.
  • Eleven sales occurred above $2,000,000 in  the first three quarters of 2013; the highest sale through September was $3,395,000. The market above $2,000,000 is just starting to see promising signs of recovery.
  • Where are the buyers coming from (October 2012 through September 10, 2013)?
    • Almost half (47.8%) of our buyers are from right here in New Mexico. Of the 248 purchases by New Mexicans, 33 of those sales were for properties that sold for over $750,000.
    • Buyers from Texas and California represent the next largest groups in our market.  They are essentially tied with 61 and 60 sales respectively.  Forty percent of transactions (24) closed by California buyers were purchases over $750,000.  For the Texas group, 18 of the 61 sales (30%) were purchases over $750,000.
    • Colorado and Florida are neck and neck with 16 and 14 sales respectively.  Two properties purchased by parties from our northern neighbor, Colorado, were purchased for over $750,000.  Of the 14 buyers from Florida, two transactions involved a property purchased over $750,000.

I hope you find this update helpful and informative, with links to articles and market trends.  If you are in the market to buy or sell or know someone who is, please contact me!

May you find time this holiday season to enjoy the things you hold closest to your heart.

Warmest regards,

SigB

Recovery to Continue in 2014, Says NAR

Rates and Home Prices Predicted to Rise

By Nick Caruso, RISMedia.comreal-estate-recovery-300x260

The real estate market will continue its road to recovery in 2014, with home prices rising 6 percent and mortgage rates
hitting 5.4 percent. In addition, demand is predicted to plateau, all according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of Research for the National Association of REALTORS®, who presented his 2014 market forecast during last week’s REALTORS® Conference and Expo.

Other factors aim to set the market back on the right path.  Although there could be a possible negative impact due to rising
mortgage rates, job creation and loosening underwriting standards should balance out 2014’s sales volume.

“There were two million jobs created in the past few months and we’ll see the same next year,” says Yun.  “These people could potentially enter the market.”  Yun does not see, however, an increase in unit sales nationwide, as inventory levels remain an issue to keep an eye on.  Currently, the nation is under one million and this number needs to increase 50-60 percent in order to get back to normal numbers.

“I don’t foresee that next year, but maybe we can at least make up half the needed gain to steadily reduce the inventory pressure,” he says.  While existing home sales are expected to remain flat at roughly 5.1 million units, new homes could rise by 25 percent from 430,000 to 510,000 next year.  This part of the market is still in recovery due to the difficulties for smaller builders to obtain financing.  This should continue easing throughout the next year.

When prompted further about how the rising mortgage rate will affect sales and the market, Yun responded, “Assuming nothing changes further, I believe it takes about 10 percent right off the top in terms of people who qualified this year versus the same people who would qualify next year. If need be, NAR will be pushing for new legislation to clarify what QM and QRM are so that we don’t get hit by that 10 percent.”

With the housing market is recovering for most Americans, homeowners will be more concerned than ever about their home values in 2014.  Actual price increases for 2013 was 11 percent, which is now expected to be a six percent rise next year.  The way to relieve home price pressure is for more inventory to come into the market, says Yun.  “We were surprised by how fast inventory would decline, but there was always a fresh set of inventory trickling in as it went out,” he says.

Overall in 2013, investor activity has been normal, but numbers slightly declined.  Though, more small-time investors entered the market, staying one step ahead of the population, consistently punching numbers to see what transactions made the most sense for them.  “If investors remain active, it implies that housing is a good buy,” says Yun.  Despite some cautionary areas, the real estate market has its beacons of potential.  The industry may not be back to its best numbers yet, but we are still heading in the right direction and making our way down that road to recovery.  “We’ve had a decent year this year and next year will be roughly the same.”

USA Today Travel Names Canyon Road a Best Iconic American Street

2nd Place Winner:  Canyon-Road_33_656x369Canyon Road in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe uniquely captures the spirit of the American Southwest, while offering visitors 400 years of history and amazing art . . . all along historic Canyon Road. The half-mile stretch of adobe buildings in Santa Fe’s arts district has more than 100 galleries – many specializing in Native American arts and handicrafts – and restaurants serving Southwestern cuisine.

Read more…

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine

10 Great Places to Live, 2013

by the Editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine

Kiplinger Photo 2 What makes a city a great place to live? By our definition, good jobs, reasonably priced homes, decent schools, great health care and manageable size are all essential parts of the mix.  We started with metro areas that have a population of 1 million or less and came up with a list of cities that met those criteria.

Then we whittled the list to ten cities and sent Kiplinger’s reporters to each one to find the extra ingredients that make them special: say, a gorgeous setting, a green sensibility, a brainiac population or a rah-rah sports culture.  Want to see a moose on your daily walk?  They’re a common sight in our #9 city.  Rub elbows with celebrities?  A surprising number of them call our #4 city home.

 

#4 – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Population:  144,170 (metro area)

Unemployment rate: 5.0%

Cost-of-living index:  NA

Median household income:  $53,698

Median home value:  $379,000

What the locals love:  The diversity, the climate and the free “Music on the Hill” jazz concert series in the summer.

Wander among the pueblo-style structures of Santa Fe’s downtown on a sunny day and you’ll see craftspeople spread their wares outside the 400-year-old Palace of the Governors, now part of the New Mexico History Museum.  Or you can stop in at restaurants such as The Shed, which serves dishes reflecting Spanish and Native American influences.  Art galleries line Canyon Road.

Locals enjoy free outdoor concerts at the central plaza bandstand, and six miles from the heart of town, the outdoor amphitheater enthralls opera-goers.  Outdoor enthusiasts can hit nearby hiking and biking trails or head to the ski slopes at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, about a half-hour drive from downtown.  Getting around on foot can be a challenge, but efforts are under way to improve sidewalks and clean up sections between popular attractions.

Tourism, government (Santa Fe is the state capital of the Land of Enchantment) and the Los Alamos National Laboratory dominate the local economy; and the health care sector is set to grow.  The city also fosters programs to encourage entrepreneurship in areas such as green technology and new media, to diversify the economy and to encourage young people to stick around.  Santa Fe’s cost of living is a little higher than in other parts of the state.  Many of the public schools are underperformers, so some families choose to live in districts with better schools or send kids to one of 43 private schools in Santa Fe County.  But the setting truly is enchanting.

Eye on the Recovery

Rebound Report Shows All Top 100 Markets Improve, Positive Equity Returns

 Monday, July 1, 2013 – RISMedia

HomesIn the latest round of positive housing news this week,  Homes.com is reporting gains for single- family properties in all top 100 markets for the first time, improving from 96 and 91 markets in the two previous reporting periods. This, according to its latest Local Market Index, a price performance summary on repeat sales of properties in the U.S. based on home pricing data for the period ending April 2013.

As a complement to the Local Market Index, Homes.com released an exclusive Rebound

Report, highlighting how the housing recovery process is unfolding across the country. Rebound data for April 2013 revealed that 14 markets across the U.S. are fully recovered – up from the previous month’s nine markets.

Additionally, 35 U.S. markets now show a rebound of 50 percent or more.

“The latest round of report findings supports a growing confidence in the housing market,” says Brock MacLean, executive vice president of Homes.com. “With home prices posting the strongest gains in seven years, the Rebound Report is another indicator of a positive turn. In one month alone, we have seen five new markets reach recovery. Adding to that momentum, all top 100 markets recorded gains for the first time, indicating the recovery continues to build across the country.”

This news comes following a wave of positive housing recovery news we reported last week including a significant jump in April home prices – posting record monthly growth and the fastest year-over-year growth in seven years; and both new-home sales and consumer confidence each reaching five-year highs.

This Summer in Santa Fe

Several Great Markets and Music Festivals

INDIAN MARKET WEEK™ – August 12th through August 18th

SWAIASWAIA will celebrate its 92nd annual Santa Fe Indian Market the week of August 12-18, 2013. This spectacular festival brings over 150,000 people to Santa Fe every August with its unique, exciting and inspiring events. From families with young children to avid art collectors, Santa Fe Indian Market attracts international visitors from all walks of life. For many visitors, this is a rare opportunity to meet the artists and learn about contemporary Indian arts and cultures. Most events are free and open to the public. Join us! It will be an experience of a lifetime.

 

 

62nd ANNUAL TRADITIONAL SPANISH MARKET – July 27th & 28thspanishmarketpaintedbultoSM

The rich Hispanic culture of New Mexico will be celebrated at the 62nd Annual Traditional Spanish Market, Saturday and Sunday, July 27th & 28th, 2013 on the Santa Fe Plaza.  A popular event for residents and visitors alike, Spanish Market features handmade traditional art from hundreds of local Hispanic artists, as well as on-going live music and dance, art demonstrations, and regional foods throughout each day.  Come meet the artists and their families as they share the experience of their living Hispanic heritage as it has existed in New Mexico for more than 400 years!
Spanish Market

 

 

SANTA FE OPERA – June 28th through August 24th

There are plentTheatery of treats at this prestigious festival, which includes Stephen Lord conducting Joyce DiDonato and Lawrence Brownlee in Rossini’s “Donna del Lago.”  Emmanuel Villaume leads Offenbach’s comic “Grand Duchess of Gerolstein,” with Susan Graham in the title role; Lisette Oropesa, Susanna Phillips and Daniel Okulitch star in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro”; Laurent Pelly directs Verdi’s “Traviata.”  The lineup also includes the premiere of Theodore Morrison’s “Oscar,” based on the life of Oscar Wilde and featuring the countertenor David Daniels in the title role.
The Santa Fe Opera, (505) 986-5900

 

 

SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL – July 14th through August 19thnmmoa-01 mod

A host of distinguished visiting artists including Jeremy Denk, Daniel Hope, and the Orion and Shanghai String Quartets will perform at this festival nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where Garrick Ohlsson is artist in residence.  A workshop for young composers will culminate in three world premieres presented alongside Marc Neikrug’s String Quartet No. 4.
Santa Fe Music Festival, (888) 221-9836

Why Home Sales Stalled in March

Need a Real Sponsor here

April 22, 2013, 11:46 AM ET

Why Home Sales Stalled in March

ByNick Timiraos

Sales of previously owned homes fell in March from February, but were still above last year’s levels.

Sales of previously owned homes fell by 0.6% in March from February, causing some analysts to second guess the housing rebound. What’s going on? Here are four takeaways from the National Association of Realtors’ report on Monday.

1) The problem for the housing market right now is a lack of supply—not a lack of demand. This isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s tried to buy a house in many parts of the country over the last year. The number of homes listed for sale rose by just 1.6% in March, meaning just 30,000 net new units hit the market. The 1.93 million homes for sale in March was down by 16.8% from one year ago and is the lowest inventory level for the month of March in 13 years. “Inventory is definitely gating demand,” says Glenn Kelman, chief executive of real estate brokerage Redfin. Monday’s report showed that sales were still 10.3% above last year’s levels on a seasonally adjusted basis, continuing a streak of 21 consecutive months in which home sales have increased from their year-ago level.

2) Rising demand and falling supply continue to push prices higher. The median home price in March rose 11.8% from one year ago to $184,300. (Changes in the median price often reflect a shift in the “mix” of homes being sold, meaning they can rise when more expensive homes transact in a given period.) In the West, median prices were up by 26.1% from one year ago, a clear sign that more homes are selling at higher price points. Median prices have risen from their year-ago levels in 13 straight months.

3) Buyers are getting frustrated, and some sellers are getting greedy. Some sellers are hearing that it’s a sellers’ market and are becoming more determined to ask for more. Inventory is low, of course, because many sellers aren’t willing or able to sell at prices that are down sharply from seven years ago. Some have a “reservation price”—a price at which they’ll sell. Ultimately, rising prices should lead more sellers to put their homes on the market. But until then, buyers may give up. “There are not enough homes to buy,” says Mr. Kelman. “We see so many people dropping out of the process because they’re tired of getting outbid.” Another problem: many sellers aren’t going to be willing to list until they’re more confident they can buy another home to move into.

4) The current market isn’t fun for real-estate agents, who make their living selling homes. But it is good for the home builders. If would-be buyers are motivated to buy now to take advantage of low prices and low mortgage rates but can’t find a home on the resale market, they’re likely to turn to the new-home market. Already, new home sales have rebounded from their depressed levels of a year ago, and Tuesday’s report for March sales will provide the latest indication of just how quickly builders are regaining market share that they surrendered as the foreclosure crisis worsened five years ago.

Art on the Edge 2013

artonedgeThe New Mexico Museum of Art
Art on the Edge 2013

Presents the work of eight contemporary artists selected by Toby Kamps for this biennial juried show organized by Friends of Contemporary Art + Photography (FOCA+P). Jan 18 – April 14, 2013.

Click here for more information

Home Price Growth at 6-Year High, According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

home_price_growthData through January 2013, released today by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller1Home Price Indices, a leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed average home prices increased 7.3% for the 10-City Composite and 8.1% for the 20-City Composite in the 12 months ending in January 2013.

All 20 cities posted year-over-year gains with Phoenix leading the way with a gain of 23.2%. Nineteen of the 20 cities showed acceleration in their year-over-year returns. Despite posting a positive double-digit annual return, Detroit was the only city to show a deceleration. After 28 months of negative annual returns, New York came into positive territory in January.

The two headline composites posted their highest year-over-year increases since summer 2006,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “This marks the highest increase since the housing bubble burst.

“After more than two years of consecutive year-over-year declines, New York reversed trend and posted a positive return in January. The Southwest (Phoenix and Las Vegas) plus San Francisco posted the highest annual increases; they were also among the hardest hit by the housing bust. Atlanta and Dallas recorded their highest year-over-year gains.

“Economic data continues to support the housing recovery. Single-family home building permits and housing starts posted double-digit year-over-year increases in February 2013. Despite a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, numbers are still down 25% year-over-year. Steady employment and low borrowing rates pushed inventories down to their lowest post-recession levels.”

As of January 2013, average home prices across the United States are back to their autumn 2003 levels for both the 10-City and 20-City Composites. Measured from their June/July 2006 peaks, the decline for both Composites is approximately 29-30% through January 2013. The January 2013 levels for both Composites are approximately 8-9% from their dip in early 2012.

In January 2013, nine cities — Atlanta, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco and Tampa — and both Composites posted positive monthly returns. Dallas was the only MSA where the level remained flat.

In terms of annual rates of change, all 20 cities as well as both Composites posted positive change. Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Francisco were the eight MSAs to report double-digit annual returns.

Additional content on the housing market may also be found on S&P Dow Jones Indices’ housing blog: www.housingviews.com.

Home Prices Expected to Rise at least 3.3 Percent Annually through 2017

Home Prices Expected to Rise

The housing recovery is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 0.6 percent through the third quarter of this year, then gain momentum and prices are projected to grow 3.7 percent between the third quarters of 2013 and 2014 until settling down to 3.3 percent annual increases over the next three years according to Fiserv, a financial services technology provider using data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Both home prices and home sales volumes increased steadily last year, making 2012 the first positive year for both prices and sales since the housing market crash, excluding gains induced by the home buyer tax credits in 2009 and 2010.

“Although some recent real estate activity has been speculative, it seems as if buyers have more realistic expectations about housing market returns after having lived through the largest housing market crash in U.S. history,” says David Stiff, chief economist, Fiserv.

“2012 was the first year since 1997 that the housing market has resembled something recognizable as normal. For the past 15 years, home price changes and sales volumes have either been boosted by a bubble mentality or crushed by crash psychology,” continues Stiff.

“Back in 1997, housing prices grew 3 percent, just below the 5 percent long-term average rate of appreciation. From 1998 to 2006, prices appreciated at levels above 5 percent, with double-digit price increases in many of those years. Then, after 2006, the market collapsed as euphoria turned to panic. It took until the end of 2011 before housing markets finally started to stabilize. The latest Case-Shiller results show a return to a historically normal pace of price appreciation in the last year.”

The recovery in home prices has been solid and broad-based. At the end of the 2012 third quarter, prices were rising in approximately 62 percent of all U.S. metro areas, compared to 12.5 percent in the same period a year ago. Average U.S. home prices increased 3.6 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the comparable period of 2012. Many of the metro areas that suffered the most severe declines during the housing market crash enjoyed the highest price increases in that period.

Fiserv Case-Shiller projects that by the end of 2013, home prices will be rising in nearly every metro area in the U.S. Some markets may experience short-term double-digit price jumps that could be partially reversed by price declines as large tranches of bank-owned inventory (REO) are liquidated. In other markets, price appreciation will slowly return to normal rates as home buyers regain confidence that the market has found its footing.

Stiff cautions that the parallels to previous years should not be overstated. Unlike in 1997, there are millions of homes with delinquent mortgages, in the foreclosure process, or in REO inventories listed for sale or waiting to be sold. But many trends are positive. With both prices and mortgage payments at historic lows relative to income, Fiserv Case-Shiller expects stronger demand for housing, and the sector once again having a positive impact on the economy.

“The number of new housing units being built per household is near a record low. As momentum in the housing market builds, we will see the residential real estate sector once again make large contributions to the economic recovery. If residential investment – which encompasses all direct spending on residential real estate construction and activity – returns to its 1997 level over the next two years, then housing will boost overall economic growth by 0.5 percentage points in 2013 and 2014,” Stiff continues.

“In all of the bubble-crash markets, foreclosures will have a persistent but diminishing drag on price appreciation. Since the timing of the disposition of foreclosed properties can be highly uncertain, we will witness choppy price movements as individual metro markets stabilize. For example, in late 2011, prices in Atlanta dropped sharply because of a substantial jump in REO sales, and it is possible that we will see similar, temporary price declines in other markets as subsiding waves of foreclosed properties buffet these markets. In other markets, investor demand is quickly absorbing listed REO properties, and as a result, foreclosures are no longer pulling home prices downward,” Stiff says.

The Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes, which include data covering thousands of zip codes, counties, metro areas and state markets, are owned and generated by Fiserv. The historical and forecast home price trend information in this report is calculated with the Fiserv proprietary Case-Shiller indexes, supplemented with data from the FHFA. The historical home price trends highlighted in this release are for the 12-month period that ended September 30, 2012. One-year forecasts are for the 12 months ending on September 30, 2013. The Fiserv Case-Shiller home price forecasts are produced by Fiserv and Moody’s Analytics.

For more information, visit www.realestateeconomywatch.com.


New Price – Camino Los Suenos

201205602_125422_pl11 Camino Los Suenos
Price: $1,049,000
MLS: 201205602
Status: Active
Class: Residential
Acres: 2.5
Area: 25S- NW Quadrant-S
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 4
Garage: 3
Guest House: No
Fireplace: Yes
Total Sqft: 3679

Captivating Sangre de Cristo Mountain views to the east and Jemez Mountain views to the west are premiered in this perfectly sited traditional Santa Fe home located on 2.5 acres in a private gated compound only minutes from the Plaza but with the desired feel of country living. Comfortable and spacious, this 3600+ sq. ft. home with natural travertine stone floors, diamond plaster walls and magnificent architectural design elements features a great room floor plan with 30′ long vigas supporting the 14′ high ceiling and a gourmet-style kitchen with granite counter tops, high-end stainless steel appliances, and walk-in pantry. Separate sleeping wings located on opposite sides of the home offer a secluded master suite and additional 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. A generous 1500 sq. ft. entertaining portal offers extended outdoor living areas, a built-in grill for outdoor kitchen, spa with custom stone deck, European-style fountains, mature landscaping and a mini-fruit orchard.

Click here for more information

New – Upper Cerro Gordo Beauty

201300744_11564 Cerro Gordo
Price: $1,250,000
MLS: 201300744
Status: Active
Class: Residential
Acres: 1.5
Area: 1-SF City Limits NE
Bedrooms: 5
Baths: 4
Guest House: Yes
Fireplace: Yes
Total Sqft: 5400

Upper Cerro Gordo beauty. Magnificent tranquility, park-like vistas and river valley views abound from this stunning main adobe, and separate guest house and separate studio on 1.5 acres in the Upper Canyon, minutes from the Plaza. 2 bed, 3 baths plus office and studio in main (2600 sq ft), 2 beds, 1.5 baths in guest (2100 sq. ft) and 700 sq ft studio. Beautifully crafted interiors, striking architectural features, perfect artist’s compound, serene and private yet close-in.

Click here for more information

The Histories of Chocolate, Mate y Más

newworldcusuineNew World Cuisine: The Histories of Chocolate, Mate y Más
In the Hispanic Heritage Wing through
January 5, 2014

This exhibition tells the tale of the earliest cultural mestizaje (mixing) to take place in the Americas through food. The exhibition highlights foods that originated in the New World and foods that were brought over from Europe via Spain and Asia via the Spanish Manila Galleons. Several special sections in the exhibition highlight specific food items. Two of these are chocolate and maté. The exhibition traces the origins of these two popular drinks, how they rose to popularity during the colonial period, and how they were introduced into European society and culture, and how they have become a strong component of popular culture today. More than 300 objects related to food harvesting, preparation, table settings, kitchen items and utilitarian and decorative implements illustrate the rich culinary traditions of the Americas. Interactive gallery activities include a scent station of new and old world herbs, shorts films about chocolate and mate, and a world map with food magnets, and a recipe exchange. Visitors are invited to take receipe cards, and write one of their own for inclusion on the New World Cuisine Facebook Page (Photo: by Kitty Leaken)

Public Programs:
321490_281374245324730_1960025097_nSunday May 19, 2013
1-4PM
Remedios /Remedies Explore New Mexican herbal salves, tinctures and other herbal remedies. By Museum admission. New Mexico residents free on Sundays!

Sunday September 15, 2013
Fall Harvest. By Museum admission, New Mexico residents free on Sundays!

Click here for more information