NEWS FROM SFAR
Original article posted By Paco Arguello October 4, 2020 Santa Fe New Mexican
The Santa Fe Association of Realtors works closely with our qualifying brokers (QBs), experienced brokers who may lead large, medium, or one-person real-estate offices along with meeting specific licensing and educational requirements from the New Mexico Real Estate Commission. To highlight the key role of our QBs, we asked several what message they would share with the community about the current Santa Fe housing market.
Maria Leyba, qualifying broker with Leyba Real Estate LLC, shares, “The Santa Fe market is a robust seller’s market right now. Properly priced homes are receiving multiple offers and going under contract within a day or two. Low interest rates have allowed many move-up buyers to get in the market, but they are competing heavily with buyers from outside the area.
“Buyers need to be prepared to view properties quickly and if they need a mortgage they should be prequalified with their lender and have a lender letter readily available. Santa Fe continues to be a beautiful, highly desirable place to live and the market should continue to trend upwards because of the tight inventory and low interest rates.”
Gregg Antonsen, qualifying broker with Sotheby’s International Real Estate, said, “Santa Fe is currently experiencing an incredibly extraordinary time in the marketing and sale of residential real estate. As an essential business, we have been operating our offices in accordance with CDC, state and local guidelines, rules, and regulations.
“What we are experiencing as a profession both nationally and locally has rebounded from a black hole in March/April to a swiftly paced seller’s market extending from May through September, particularly in Santa Fe. Thanks to buyer demands locally, regionally, and nationally, our firm has outpaced dollar volume and units sold compared to one year ago. September is shaping up to be an-other very strong month for residential sales, making the near-term future look quite positive indeed.
“Despite all of the recent activity, Santa Fe remains a positive value proposition when compared to most other Southwest destination markets. Our abundance of clean air, open spaces, starry skies, access to cultural events, restaurants and more makes our very enticing corner of the world a sought-after sanctuary for a growing number of people who are seeking all we have to offer.”
For a commercial view, John Shepler, representing Shepler Commercial Real Estate Services, noted, “When the COVID virus hit, many of us had transactions in the pipeline that just went away. Since then, anything “non-essential” has been pretty much put on hold, both from leasing and sales perspectives. Owner-occupied sales have been the bulk of the sale transactions and the 1031 market still has activity for those that need to place funds.
“Judging from inquiry levels, I think the market is picking up a bit as we get back to being open state-wide. The calls that brokers are getting are action oriented — from people that need to get something definitively done.”
Lastly, David Barker, qualifying broker with Barker Realty, said, “In my 40-plus years practicing real estate in Santa Fe I have not witnessed the market dynamics we are seeing now. Last year inventory was low, this year inventory is one third less, and yet more houses have sold. In some cases, we are literally seeing prices increase in 30 days. I am concerned about the market pressures this brings into play. Santa Fe real estate is definitely not the “Land of Manana”; you’ve got to be informed, proactive, and ready to move.
“In my opinion, we’re going to continue to see these market conditions through the oncoming year and longer as our national economy quickly shifts to adjust to the significant changes taking place.”
Rubel ”Paco” Arguello is a Santa Fe native and chief executive of the Santa Fe Association of Realtors.
