City home prices, sales fall
Median home prices in the city of Santa Fe fell 8.3% between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of last year—from $599,750 to $550,000—according to data released yesterday by the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. During the same period, median home prices in Santa Fe County rose by 3.5%: from $795,000 to $822,500. Both city and county home sales dropped when comparing quarters: 21.8% in the city, and less than 1% in the county. “Our fourth quarter numbers show the ongoing impact of high mortgage interest rates,” Joshua Maes, 2024 SFAR president, says in a statement. “These have put downward pressure on home prices while increasing days on market. With inflation cooling and the Federal Reserve backing off on rate increases, we should start to see buyers and sellers back in the market. This will help with sales and supply as we enter the new year.” The housing market was challenging nationwide, SFAR notes, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hitting a 23-year high of 7.79% in October. “Home prices marched upward in many markets, causing existing home sales to slump nationwide,” SFAR notes. The association’s quarterly property statistics show declines in most areas of the city, with the exception of a slight increase in sales between quarters in the Northeast sector (think the Hyde Park Road and its vicinity), where sales increased by 14.3% and the median sales price grew by 3.4% to $1.37 million. While sales dropped 16% on the Southside, the median house sales price grew 2.2%, from $469,500 to $480,000. Both land prices and sales rose overall, by 8.6% between the fourth quarters of 2022 and 2023—to $165,000—and the volume of land sales between quarters grew by 48.6%: from $7.9 million to $11.7 million.
PRC orders PNM to come up with new rates
The Public Regulation Commission yesterday rejected PNM’s request for a rate increase, largely adopting recommendations made last month by hearing examiners in company’s rate case. PNM initially filed its rate increase in December 2023, citing changes in PNM’s cost of service due to the state’s Energy Transition Act. PNM’s application asked for rate increases on residential and business customers to collect on a purported $63.8 million in projected revenue deficiency. As described in a news release, PRC Commissioners in yesterday’s hearing overall established “rates below what PNM had requested but sufficient to allow a reasonable return on investment and to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable service.” The PRC also directed PNM to return $38.4 million in ratepayer funds collected last year for Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station lease payments that expired in 2022. As for the actual rates customers will pay, PNM has until Feb. 2 to file updated rates that comply with the PRC’s order; those could go into effect as early as the next billing cycle, the agency says. The PRC’s final order concurs with the hearing examiners’ recommendations and findings that PNM’s investment in the Four Corners Power Plant was imprudent—a position for which the Sierra Club Rio Grande chapter advocated—and disputes PNM’s argument that the recommended decision didn’t “properly evaluate the evidence… In fact, never has one issue been so thoroughly vetted in a recommended decision in recent commission history,” the PRC writes.
City ISO Midtown commission members
Members of the public interested in applying to serve on a new body helping guide the development of the Midtown campus have until the end of the month to apply for one of five spots on the new Midtown Metropolitan Redevelopment Commission. The new advisory body follows the city’s appointment in November of urban planner and real estate developer Karen Iverson as director of its new Midtown Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency. The City Council last summer passed an ordinance delineating the creation of the agency and commission, both in service of the metropolitan redevelopment process, which designates blighted or under-used areas as MRAs in order to establish public/private partnerships that don’t violate the state anti-donation clause, and to access additional federal cash. The commission, as described in a news release, “will make advisory recommendations to the city regarding the planning, preservation, rehabilitation, redevelopment, development or management of properties,” and will be appointed by the mayor with the council’s approval. Commissioners must be city residents and will serve staggered initial terms lasting for three, two, or one year, with subsequent commissioners appointed for five-year terms. The city seeks applicants with “expertise or experience in commercial property development, affordable housing development, community planning, banking/financial services, and representing marginalized communities.” For more information, contact Lee Logston at (505) 955-6914 or lrlogston@santafenm.gov. Apply here by 5 pm, Jan. 31.
NM ranks ninth for “in-bound” moves
Yes, more people continue to move to New Mexico, at least according to the 2023 United Van Lines National Movers Study, which placed New Mexico in the top 10 for the second year in a row for “best inbound location” in the US. Specifically, of the moves involving New Mexico, 59.6% were in-bound (versus the 40.4% of the moves attributed to people leaving the state). Of those moving here, 30% came for work, while just over 21% came to retire. Close to 37% of the “in-bound” folks were in the 65 and older age bracket—the largest demographic moving here—also the largest outbound demographic at over 48%. “Family” was the top reason for folks leaving the state at nearly 34%, followed by “job” at 28.2%. At any rate, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, whose office issued the report’s findings, characterized the ongoing trend as good news. “Individuals, families and businesses around the country are recognizing the potential New Mexico offers, especially with regards to jobs, lifestyle and retirement,” the governor said in a statement. “We’re continuing to build up systems that attract and support continued growth and a thriving population. Welcome to New Mexico!”
Listen up
If a midlife chrysalis sounds better than a midlife crisis, be sure to listen to a recent interview KUNM News Director Megan Kamerick conducted with Chip Conley, founder of Modern Elder Academy, TED talk presenter and author of Learning to Love Midlife. MEA operates workshops at its Baja, Mexico campus, and is slated to open its Santa Fe campus this March (located on a portion of a ranch formerly owned by the late arts benefactor Emily Fisher Landau). MEA, Conley says, is directed toward helping “people in midlife”—which has become extended given humans’ increasing longevity—”understand how to make sense of themselves, how to navigate these transitions, how to cultivate purpose and how to own their own wisdom.”
Oh, the places you’ll go
Travel & Leisure magazine consults with “local experts” to determine the “18 best places to visit in New Mexico.” For instance, Angelisa Murray, CEO of Taos’ guided tour operator Heritage Inspirations, says the Couse-Sharp Historic Site is one of her favorite museums. She also likes Abiquiú. Marama Nengel, chef concierge at Bishop’s Lodge, recommends an afternoon jaunt to the Santuario de Chimayó. Hans Loehr, “adventure center architect” at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe, points visitors to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. An unnamed expert includes the Santa Fe Plaza on the list of must-sees locales. Meanwhile, Betway, a website that appears to specialize in sports betting, also released its list yesterday of top desert towns that emerged last year for “thrill-seekers and wine connoisseurs.” A news release says the rankings are “based on factors such as vineyards, hiking trails, Google search volume and Instagram posts.” The list of 17 desert locations includes three in New Mexico: Madrid, Silver City and Ojo Caliente at 11, 14 and 15, respectively. Silver City’s more than 90,000 Instagram posts would seem to be based on the hashtag #silvercity, which includes numerous non-New Mexico Silver Cities as well. Despite the increased longevity of human life, as noted above, we did not check the rest of the data’s methodology.
The Texas connection
Texas Monthly offers up a “Texan’s Guide to Santa Fe,” describing New Mexico’s capital city as a place that has “enchanted generations of Texans.” One of those Texans, Amanda Tucker, first visited when she was 7, thus commencing a “lifelong love affair with Santa Fe.” So much so that after staying at the Silver Saddle Motel as a teenager, as an adult, Tucker and her husband purchased the Silver Saddle Motel and reopened it last summer as The Mystic Santa Fe. Tucker, the story notes, “is particularly proud of the motel’s food and beverage menu, which includes items inspired by her Texas roots: banana pudding, margaritas, and waffles served with her grandma’s signature syrup.” Southern hospitality also plays an important role at The Mystic, she says. “We’ve been very focused on where we come from and what we enjoy when we’re traveling. We put that into practice in our establishment.” The story includes numerous other Santa Fe establishments with Texas connections of some sort, including: El Rey Court, Paloma and…the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, as well as a slew of other spots lacking a known Texas-connection but deemed worth visiting by Texans nonetheless, such as Ten Thousand Waves, Counter Culture and The Shed.
In winter with warm tears I’ll melt the snow
A winter weather advisory remains in effect until 6 am tomorrow, with the National Weather Service forecasting a 90% chance for snow today, with accumulations of 1 to 2 inches, a high temperature near 36 degrees and southeast wind 10 to 20 mph. More snow likely this evening, primarily before 11 pm. Here’s a visualization of how the snow will fall across the state today. And for folks ready to say farewell to Christmas or, at least, to their Christmas trees, the City of Santa Fe offers free tree recycling through Jan. 15.
Thanks for reading! The Word enjoyed Tim Riley’s essay in the LA Review of Books on on the film Maestro more than she enjoyed the movie—so much so that now she wants to watch it again (and as a bonus, she discovered Riley’s music newsletter).