CONSIDERING A MOVE TO NEW MEXICO?
Last year, I had the opportunity to travel West for the first time! Lisa Davis, Taos realtor, provided an overview of the marketplace plus one of my friends was househunting.
If you are ever in the area, don't hesitate to say hi to Lisa or send her referrals! She'll do a great job. PS Let her know I sent you and you may have the opportunity to explore the ultimate green house..."the Earth Ship"

Here's Lisa's January newsletter regarding stats..

We have had such great snow this year, the Taos Ski Valley is hoppin'. The ski valley has announced some plans for refurbishing the village area which will enhance the appeal of the Taos Ski Valley, but the BIG news out of the Ski Valley is that starting in March, they are allowing snowboarding. This has been a hot topic for years and now, it's happening.

The attached newsletter offers a snap shot of the basic sales stats for 2007, as you will see, volume is down from 2006. This is no different from what is happening across the country. The volume and prices have reverted to a more normal market. I am curious to see what 2008 will bring, I have heard that the Fed's are expected to lower interest rates again this month.

As we all know, the media tends to sensationalize things and I think it's important to keep the following in perspective:
1. Real Estate is a long term investment. The boom created a misconception that real estate is a high yield, short term investment.
2. There is no such thing as a bad market. No matter where we are in a cycle there are still sellers and buyers...with low interest rates, it's still a good time to buy. NAR reports that 2007 existing home sales surpassed those of 2002, then a record breaking year!
3. Foreclosure perspective: Foreclosure is always bad news, the recent foreclosures that we are hearing about is predominately with sub-prime loans which are held by less than 10% of homeowners and most will not go into foreclosure. The foreclosure rate on prime loans is only 0.6 percent.

I wish you all a wonderful 2008...come on out to Taos and hit the slopes...or, don your snow shoes and take a walk through the woods...it's magical!

Sincerely,Lisa Davis, CRS, GRIAssociate BrokerResort and Recreation SpecialistFine Homes SpecialistPrudential Taos Real Estatehttp://www.enchantedtaos.com/lisa@enchantedtaos.comTel: 800-530-8899 ext 220Fax: 575-758-4833

STATS


2007 Total Units Sold (all types, entire MLS): 508 (compared to 752 in 2006.)
Dollar volume: 2007 $157,732,861 (compared to $197,553,722 in 2006.)
To break it down by category (not all categories shown):
2007 Single Family Residential total units sold: 214 (compared to 283 in 2006.)
Average sales price: $403,929. (compared to $359,873 in 2006.)
(2007 Median sales price $337,313) Average days on the market: 307
2007 Condo total units sold: 100 (compared to 144 in 2006.)
Average sales price: $279,226. (compared to $261,734 in 2006.)
2007 Land less than 5 acres units sold: 91 (compared to 144 in 2006.)
Average sales price: $123,832 (compared to $112,044 in 2006.)
2007 Land more than 5 acres and less that 10 units sold: 23 (compared to 46 in 2006.)
Average sales price: $127,741 (compared to $178,864 in 2006.)
2007 Land more than 10 acres units sold: 21 (compared to 52 in 2006.)
Average sales price: $193,733 (compared to $352,717 in 2006.
(Note: Available land is further away from Taos which is being reflected in the price)
What does all of this mean? Well it means that it’s a great time to buy in Taos! Some prices are
coming down along with interest rates! Opportunity is knocking!!!!
To put it in perspective, 2006 was a banner year on all accounts and the softening
of our market in 2007 is really more of a “normalizing”.