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Home Santa Fe Newsletter | Q1 2018 | Featuring a quarterly market update, for sale and sold statistics, plus featured and current listings.
SANTA FE REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE 1ST QUARTER
2018 Smoking Hot Market
2017 was a banner year for the Santa Fe real estate marketplace. With the sales of residential homes climbing 15% and inventory dropping 35%, we all know what this means – shorter days on market and rising prices. Buyers in some pockets of our market are struggling to find inventory, but this “struggle” is in relation to the burgeoning inventory of the recession years. Both real estate brokers and buyers became accustomed to savory options – and when subsidized transactions disappeared and bank owned homes dwindled, buyers paused to jump in at “market” prices … especially on the high end. There are still plenty of options throughout our marketplace, and some segments are waiting to join the party (the top end of the market and land to be specific).
The average price of a home in Santa Fe rose from $402,313 to $422,983 (a 15% increase) while the inventory dropped from 1,430 homes available in 2017 to 1,030 in 2018 (a 28% decrease). Curiously the average price of a home for sale is now $790,387 (quite a gap between the average list price and the average sale price). This can be explained by the large number of very expensive homes that are now on the market. The price per square foot is still 10% below the pre-recession years, but we are catching up.
Over $1 million market has seen a similar phenomenon as the overall market, with a dramatic 32% increase in the number of homes sold over $1 million, and the inventory of homes has dropped from 255 last year to 211 this year. Price per square foot has been all over the board for the last 11 years with no discernible pattern. The most expensive homes in Santa Fe are also the ones that historically sell for the most money per square foot. Monte Sereno currently has no homes on the market – as the market continues to absorb inventory there due to the scarcity of existing homes on the market. Several to-be-builts are on the market in Monte Sereno, and the developer is having tremendous success with their new Compound Homes – with 2 now under contract.
Land sales continue to lag behind the above trends. 1,288 lots are for sale in 2018 versus 1,299 last year at this time. Sales of land did jump 32% from 68 last year through the first quarter of the year to 90 this year. Inventory of great lots and reduced prices is pretty much gone, and the bell curve on average lots defines the current glut of lots for sale. Some sellers are throwing in the towel after years on the market and giving in to market pressures, while others are holding tight – most likely due to their basis. Las Campanas currently has 86 lots for sale, while Monte Sereno clocks in at 26. Average price of lots sold in Las Campanas since January 1st, 2017 is $125,473, compared with Monte Sereno at $195,700.
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