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Santa Fe County median home price hits $789,395
Median home prices in Santa Fe County have risen to $789,395, according to Santa Fe Association of Realtors data released yesterday for the year’s second quarter. That figure represents a 22% increase from the same quarter last year, when county homes sales had a median home price of $647,000. In the city, median home prices rose by the same amount to a high of $583,371. “Santa Fe single family home sales were down by 20% with days on market shrinking to just over two weeks—a record low,” SFAR 2022 President Andrea Dobyns said in a statement. “Increasing mortgage interest rates, by nearly 3% since January, put even more pressure on the local housing market.” SFAR’s quarterly indicators report shows the inventory of single family homes for sale in the city and county decreased by 45.7% and days on market until sale also dipped to 30 days for single family homes and 28 days for condos/townhomes this quarter. “The housing marking sits squarely in the hands of sellers as we enter the normally busiest home buying and selling season,” Dobyns said. “With record-breaking low inventory and few, if any, housing units coming online, the market is extremely competitive with sellers getting multiple offers, many over the asking price of the listing.” According to SFAR, median home prices across the city range from $1.29 million on the Northeast side (north of East Alameda and Canyon Road toward Hyde Park Estates) to $450,000 on the Southside.
NM nears $38 million in cannabis sales in June
The state Cannabis Control Division yesterday announced New Mexico sold close to $38 million in adult-use and medical cannabis during June—the third month since adult recreational sales became legal here; approximately $21 million came from adult sales, comparable to May. “As adult-use sales remain steady, this new industry is bringing new economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and communities across New Mexico,” Acting Director Carolina Barrera said in a statement. Santa Fe had the second highest sales following Albuquerque—approximately $3.2 million, with $1.7 million from adult-use sales. Las Cruces, Rio Rancho and Hobbs followed in the top five, respectively. Down at the bottom: Moriarty with $186.70 worth of sales and Logan with $5 (we made somewhat of an attempt to determine the story behind Logan’s $5 worth of cannabis sales and failed). The state New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department received 124 cannabis excise tax returns reporting about $2.5 million in taxes due for the June filing period—which reflects sales activity in May. Department Communications Director Charlie Moore tells SFR that represents a slight increase from April cannabis excise tax returns both in dollars—it was about $2.4 million that month—and the number of returns (10 more).
US Court: NM and Texas can continue water settlement talks
US Circuit Judge Michael J. Melloy announced yesterday he is approving a delay in the long-running lawsuit between Texas, New Mexico and the US Bureau of Reclamation over the waters of the Rio Grande to give the parties time to work out a settlement (Texas objected to the delay). A news release from New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announcing the delay said that potential settlement agreement could both resolve the case and save the state “millions” in litigation costs. “We assembled the best legal and scientific team in the nation to disprove that our farmers and our communities owed billions in damages to Texas, and we are now on the cusp of an exciting historic settlement agreement that will protect New Mexico water for generations to come,” Balderas said in a statement. The lawsuit, filed by Texas in 2013, concerns how the waters of the Rio Grande below Elephant Butte Reservoir are shared by Texas and New Mexico. The court appointed a special master in 2014. According to the AG’s office, the parties completed the first phase of trial in the fall of 2021 and it was scheduled to continue on Oct. 3. Instead, Melloy ordered the parties to attend a status conference on July 26 to provide an update on the progress of settlement discussions and to discuss a new trial date if necessary. The US Supreme Court will have to approve any agreements reached.
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 3,132 (includes Saturday through Tuesday); 567,816 total cases
Deaths: four; Santa Fe County has had 316 total deaths thus far; there have been 7,950 total fatalities statewide. Statewide Hospitalizations: 174. Patients on ventilators: 19.
Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453. Vaccines for children: Parents of children ages 6 months to 5 years can now schedule appointments for vaccinations at VaccineNM.org.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
SITE Santa Fe’s virtual Wednesday 12 pm #lunchtalks pick up again at noon today, with a conversation between exhibiting artists Nani Chacon and Jeffrey Gibson about the shared themes in their work, moderated by curator Brandee Caoba. Upcoming talks include Gaye Theresa Johnson, associate professor of Chicana/o & Central American Studies and associate director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, who will discuss community-based art’s role in politics, community and activism on July 20; and Nani Chacon again, this time with Museum of Graffiti co-founder Alan Ket, on Aug. 3. Talks stream on SITE Santa Fe’s Facebook and Youtube pages.
Staying cool in Santa Fe
Cool Hunting magazine features Santa Fe in its recent “Word of Mouth” travel guide, noting that while “everybody has their must-see list (which the story notes often includes the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Meow Wolf, The Shed and...The Matador…possibly marking one of the first times we’ve seen The Matador listed as a top tourist destination, but sure, why not). As for Cool Hunting (you can read the publication’s “manifesto” here), writer Katie Olsen recommends visiting San Ildefonso Pueblo and hiking nearby with the Passport to Pueblo Country outfit. She also recommends staying at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi; grabbing meals at Dolina Bakery & Cafe and at La Boca; visiting SITE Santa Fe; plus soaking and sunbathing at Ten Thousand Waves.
Catching up with Shirley MacLaine
The LA Times breaks down the second season of Only Murders in the Building, including the addition of New Mexico resident and legendary actress Shirley MacLaine on the cast. “When the show came around, she was intrigued,” co-creator and showrunner John Hoffman says of MacLaine, with whom he became friends about 10 years ago. “We were in the middle of a pandemic. She’s in the middle of New Mexico on her ranch alone through most of the pandemic, God love her, at 86. And so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a try.’ And I said, ‘Shirley, would you ever consider coming to New York and shooting? We have an idea that you’d be perfect for.’ And she jumped right in, which I just so admire and [she] just changed the tenor of the set the minute she walked in. I have to say, it was just bliss working with her.” MacLaine also spoke with Town & Country magazine, via phone from New Mexico, about taking on the role of Leonora Folger (the mother of murdered board president Bunny). “I just loved the character and wanted to work again with Marty [Short] and Steve [Martin], to be in Manhattan doing something creative,” MacLaine said. “And I wanted to see how John would be as a director; he really did a good job. I just wanted to do it, period. Are you writing this down?” Last month, MacLaine talked with the New York Post—in an interview about her new movie American Dreamer—about spending much of the pandemic isolated in New Mexico. “I came to the mountains in New Mexico and I just, I really practically didn’t see anybody for a year…and that was an interesting experience,” she said. “I did realize when I started talking to myself, I thought, well I better go out and wear a mask.”
High and dry
Today looks warm and dry, according to the National Weather Service, which forecasts a sunny day with a high near 85 degrees and north wind 5 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Looks like our next chance for showers isn’t until Friday.
Thanks for reading! The Word found many of the data points in July’s Harper’s Index of interest, but is stuck on the notion that there is a one-in-five chance that an American, aged 18-41, learned to do laundry from social media.
