Inventory down, housing needed

It has been touted in the media that the Santa Fe real-estate market is hot. All numbers point to a positive uptick in sales and tight inventory is pushing prices upwards in many neighborhoods. The Santa Fe Association of Realtors recently published its first-quarter market statistics and this year is shaping up to be a record-setter.

The market overview tells us that new listings are down 10 percent from this same time last year and at their lowest level in three years. Because our pending sales are also up by over 12 percent, this begins to feel like an inventory crisis as we see our supply of homes fall fromsix months’ worth in 2017 to slightly over four months’ at present. Due to increased demand and low supply, it only follows that the median sales price has increased by 7 percent to $335,784, which has caused our housing affordability index to fall to a low of 85. That means that the median household income was only 85 percent of what is necessary to qualify to purchase themedian-priced home under prevailing income rates.

Looking by area, closed sales in the northeast sector of the city are slightly down about 6 percent from this same time last year. The median sales price, however, jumped almost 29 percent from $685,000 to $880,000. Northwest-city sales increased slightly from 17 to 19 this past quarter of 2018. The median sales price here jumped also from $320,000 in 2017 to $410,000. The Eastside and South Capital areas have stayed consistent with roughly 36 homes sold. The median price dropped from $615,000 to $593,500. The Southwest city quadrant had an increase in sales of 13 percent from 108 homes sold first quarter of 2017 to 122 homes in 2018. The median sales in this area also climbed by 7 percent from $245,000 to $263,200.

The numbers in Santa Fe County outside the city limits are not as rosy but overall still strong. The Tesuque and north county areas had a slight decrease in sales, but the median selling price jumped from $359,000 to $599,000, aided significantly by the housing shortage occurring in Los Alamos. Northwest county sales were down just slightly from 41 sales same time last year to 39 with only a 2 percent increase in selling price to $785,000. In the southeast county, sales were down by 10 percent from 2017 but prices did increase here to a median selling price of $421,000. The Community College District and the southwest county had a big increase in sales, up from 36 to 52 homes sold. The selling price saw a 17 percent increase from $257,000 to $302,350. Eldorado is suffering froma lack of inventorywith sales down this past quarter by 22 percent from last year. The median sales price stayed relatively flat at $349,000.

As we look at these numbers and consider where we stand in Santa Fe, they really do mirror much of what is occurring in other parts of the nation, perhaps just not as alarming. Much of the data shows us we are back to pre-bubble numbers in terms of days-on-market and selling-price-to-list-price percentages. However, the inventory level of available homes for sale in 2007, before the crash, was more than 2,500 units. The recession wiped out 10 years of construction and nowwe need to act. Santa Fe needs to get busy stamping new building permits and defining new ways to add more housing to Santa Fe. As many parts of the country are already experiencing a housing shortage, we need to be proactive in Santa Fe to keep the city affordable and inviting.

Roger andMelissa are Realtors at Keller Williams. Melissa was the 2017 president of the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. Call them at 505-699-3112, email twicethesellingpower@gmail.com, or follow them on Twitter @CarsonandCarson and at www. facebook.com/carsonandcarson.santaferealestate