Work on new Belen subdivision to begin soon

Hot housing market in Valencia County

BELEN — It’s been decades since a new subdivision has been built in the Hub City, but that dry spell seems to be over.

Westway Homes, a new, local homebuilding company, has bought and will soon develop a subdivision, De La Reina Queen, off Don Luis Trujillo Boulevard.

The new subdivision will have 92 homes, a pocket park and storage units for the homeowners.

There are six different floor plans, varying in size from a 1,137-square-foot, one-story home to a 1,816-square-foot, two-story house.

Steven Tomita, the city’s planning and economic development manager, said Westway Homes bought the undeveloped subdivision last year.

Tomita said the original developer had died and that while no homes had been built, the roads and other infrastructure had been completed.

Tomita said the homes in the De La Reina Queen subdivision will be about $70,000 cheaper than homes currently being built in Los Lunas.

“It’s my understanding he’s already got some lots sold,” Tomita said.

That’s not surprising to him, saying the housing market in Belen and Valencia County has been booming.

“I was told last week that there was a home that went on the market here in Belen, and they had three or four offers in three or four days, greater than what it was listed at,” Tomita said. “This is the hottest market in years.”

What has helped, Tomita said, is the housing market in Belen is cheaper than in Albuquerque, and that people are wanting to get out of the “big city” and the traffic congestion in Los Lunas.

“There aren’t even a lot of homes to rent,” he said. “The whole county is like this.”

He also believes the economic growth in Valencia County has greatly impacted the housing market, “with the jobs Keter has brought in, as well as Facebook,” he said.

“It’s been about 20 years that the last subdivision was fully built, Belen de Jardin. It’s my understanding that this construction activity that has been going on is the most in the last 25 years.”