In with the new seasonal mix

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Ahhhhhhh, Spring!   When pollen fills the air and hope fills the real estate marketing pages, you know it is springtime. What should we expect? Inventory will rise dramatically from now until at least June. While we continue to sell and close, new listings will show up in greater numbers, so the overall picture will look worse for a few months. But late summer and fall seasons will see a slowing of new listings and a gradual increase in sales (if the last 25 years of history can be believed) such that about November, we should be able to predict what sort of year we will be completing. Big deal this predicting business!

From the home page you may access several spreadsheets and reports full of data relevant to the Santa Fe residential real estate market. This information is free and as long as several of you contact me and we do some business, it will remain free for all to read and share. The price of poker has not gone up. The price of real estate is not going up either, just yet. While the worst of our burst bubble has passed, there are still enough foreclosed properties to work through that their influence on our market continues to sway lower. When you have similar homes for sale, one a foreclosure at 445K and another well maintained home at 560K, what do you think a buyer will want to do? Yes, they will want to pay less. See prior post about Price is Everything.

A Zillow fan says the site shows appreciation in homes in Santa Fe. I am not sure if this is a certain price range or an overall impression. There may be actual appreciation in some homes between $500K and $1 million due to a perceived lack of quality inventory. There also may be a slight climb in values in the lower price ranges due to demand equal to or greater than inventory. This does not mean we have bidding wars for homes, although that could happen for a home priced to sell right away. Yours truly will spend some time on Zillow (not on my daily chores list) and see what it is saying about Santa Fe home values.

Some of the most desired real property in the area is currently for sale. Actually this could be said almost any time, but lately some sellers have finally tired of waiting for a full recovery and placed their property on the market to start the process of moving on. Many held back when they realized they could not get as much as they had paid when they bought a few years ago. That concept of a residential property working like an ATM machine was a difficult image to forget. If you are looking for true Santa Fe style in a home, million dollar views, a chef’s kitchen, immaculate condition, creative and practical floor plan, fresh flowers on the table, recently dusted and polished also with beautiful landscaping, there is a home for you out there. Your price range will affect which home you choose, but to someone, every home looks fantastic.

Did you know your favorite real estate sales professional is actually many other things in addition to the one your think you know? Some examples include: a computer wizard, a marriage counselor, a babysitter, a dog sitter, a mind reader, a tour guide, a contract negotiator, a mediator, a prophet, a restaurant guide, a cultural student versed in all things Santa Fe, an outdoors person, an avid reader, a source of referrals for home services, a friendly sort, wise but not too chatty… oh heck, there are so many more. Ask your salesperson which one they enjoy the most. Or ask them if their skills include the extra stuff you will be needing during the process of finding and closing on your next home.

Enjoy the springtime and may your garden blossom with fragrant flowers and produce a bounty of fresh vegetables. Contact me if you are wanting to know more about your neighborhood, your home value, the market trends that affect your future, or even if you want to hire the honest mature wise and funny old guy that writes these posts and takes excellent care of his customers. Testimonials available on this site!

Posted in Foreclosures, Home Values, Posts & Updates, Santa Fe area real estate, Statistical Data - Santa Fe real estate market, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , .

The writer is a 68 year-old young man engaged as an active REALTOR (associate broker) with Keller Williams, in real estate sales and management in the Santa Fe NM market area. My career has been in and around the real estate industry for more than 35 years, ranging from mortgage lending (interim, commercial, residential); residential property management and leasing; shopping center development and leasing; real estate sales; sales training; title insurance as an executive and an escrow officer; various management positions; consulting and other related activities. That plus a bunch of banking experience including our family-owned Bank of Santa Fe in the 1980s. Where has the time gone?
My background means you have my working knowledge of the entire transaction process at your disposal. That comes with honesty and no bullshit.