The high marks Santa Fe received for various quality of life markers help our residents keep their New Year’s resolutions, according to the site. Other cities ranking with Santa Fe were West Des Moines (Iowa); Richmond (Virginia), Omaha (Nebraska), Madison (Wisconsin), Fort Collins (Colorado) and Charlotte (North Carolina).

While there is not any real data about Santa Fe real estate, we thought you might be amused by this newest honor!

Santa Fe has over 7 ½ times more “artists and related workers” living here for its population size than the national average!

The short article can be found here.

We can’t help but wonder how many times the national average Santa Fe has for Santa Fe real estate brokers!

It is heartening to see that Santa Fe keeps being named among the top city lists this year.  Not too long ago it was Travel + Leisure’s list and around the same time Santa Fe was awarded the third highest ranking city in a closely watched Conde Nast Traveler reader survey.

During his 35-year career, James Drake has worked with equal fluency in video, photography, sculpture, drawing and printmaking. He has had over 60 one-person shows and has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including the 2000 Whitney Biennial and the 2007 Venice Biennale. Drake is the recipient of a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and a Nancy Graves Award for Visual Arts. His most recent accolade is a Texas Medal of Arts (2011). His work is in more than 30 museum collections, including the Albright-Knox Gallery, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Blanton Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Phoenix Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Born in Lubbock, Texas, in 1946, Drake lived for many years in El Paso, Texas, and presently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The above text is directly from the New Mexico Museum site (click here) where you can find many images from the show.  This is a splendid show by a remarkable artist.  We urge you to find the time to go in person.  The Drake work is beautifully installed and juxtaposes incredibly well with the “Past Present Future: Michael Berman, David Taylor, and Connie Samaras” photography show which you can explore here.

The local data comes from U.S. Census Bureau, the Labor Department and HUD data, as well as statistics from state and local municipalities as well as “housing industry sources”, according to the announcement from HUD. Please visit their site here to seem more specifics.

Here, using a simple pull down menu you can access some of the market data specifically about Santa Fe real estate, housing, labor statistics and so forth—their “Market at a Glance” page.

While you can’t find this weeks “Santa Fe Arts” openings—(this is not “Pasatiempo”)–the HUD site does offer an interactive map of the U.S., divided into major regions. You can drill down to county-level data too.

Major catagories for the site:

1. Market at a Glance reports: Economic and housing market data trends for county and metro areas, with monthly employment data.  This is to be updated regularly.

2. Regional housing market profiles: Employment, population and construction stats.

3. Regional narratives: Economic and housing market trends within 10 U.S. regions.   These are rather detailed PDF documents on each larger region, i.e. Southwest Region.  You can download the latest quarter’s report for the Southwest Region at this part of the site.

4. Comprehensive housing market analysis: City-specific housing market reports prepared by HUD field economists.

The new trail will be about three miles in length, over land that the Santa Fe Conservation Trust now owns and is conveying to Santa Fe County in order to accomplish this extension.  The name of the trail is going to be La Piedra Trail.  Work is going to begin this month (October) and should be completed by the end of December if all goes according to expectations.

The Santa Fe Conservation Trust was begun in 1993 by Stuart Udall and Dale Ball, among others.  Its purpose is to protect open spaces and wildlife habitat in Santa Fe county as well as other adjacent counties. 

When newcomers to Santa Fe ask about which local groups work with the the environment we try to tell them about the Santa Fe Conservation Trust.  They are a good group and a major asset to those of us who work in the Santa Fe real estate market.

Besides the new World Health ranking Santa Fe has been on the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” Annual Reports ranking  as the second best city to live in with regards to particle pollution, just behind Cheyenne, Wyoming for several years.

This has always been a very important data point to make to people who are moving to Santa Fe or who are considering relocating to Santa Fe.  Air quality is one of the things that people looking at Santa Fe real estate are happiest to hear when we discuss the general area and Santa Fe’s best attributes.

One can extrapolate from this change the idea that perhaps they don’t have a whole lot of homes that they plan to foreclose on and try to sell at a discount to the market.

The four classifications for property are as follows:

Market Class 1 – Stable

Market Class 2 – Soft

Market Class 3 – Distressed

Market Class 4 – Severely Distressed

We will post more about this change once we have data or further explanations from Wells Fargo.  But at the moment it seems like very good news for the Santa Fe real estate market as a whole.

A grand living room overlooking the garden welcomes you. A handsome fireplace, wood floors and coved ceilings with vigas grace this room. The stylish use of low walls and standing vigas distinguish the living room from the den/dining room. Beyond is a wonderful kitchen with room for informal dining.   Take a further look here

The median price of existing homes, meanwhile, rose 0.3 percent in 2010 after a 12.9 percent drop in 2009, and is expected to rise 0.5 percent this year, to $173,800, and another 2.4 percent in 2012, to $177,900.

Sales of new single-family homes are expected to rebound faster, rising 17.7 percent this year, to 374,000 sales, after a 15.5 percent drop in 2010, and then rising 51.1 percent in 2012, to 565,000 sales. In an earlier forecast, released last month, NAR anticipated that sales of new single-family homes would climb 20.8 percent in 2011 and 30.9 percent in 2012.

The new-home median price rose 2.2 percent in 2010 and is expected to climb 1.8 percent this year, to $224,700, and 1.9 percent in 2012, to $229,000.

NAR expects that 30-year-fixed mortgage rates will average 5.1 percent this year, up from 4.7 percent in 2010, and rise to 5.9 percent in 2012.

The group also forecasts the U.S. unemployment rate to fall from 9.7 percent in 2010 to 9.4 percent this year and 8.7 percent in 2012, while U.S. real gross domestic product is expected to dip from 2.8 percent in 2010 to 2.6 percent this year, rising to 3.2 percent in 2012.

Also today, NAR reported a 2 percent month-to-month rise in December for its index tracking pending sales of existing homes, though the index was down -4.2 percent compared to December 2009.

The Pending Home Sales Index tracks homes for which a sales contract has been signed but the transaction has not yet closed. Typically, a sale is finalized within one to two months of signing, so the index is considered a leading indicator.

Regionally, the index fell 10.7 percent in the West, 5.3 percent in the Northeast and 5.1 percent in the Midwest while rising 1.7 percent in the South in December 2010 compared to December 2009.

And the index dropped 13.2 percent in the West while rising 11.5 percent in the South, 8 percent in the Midwest, and 1.8 percent in the Northeast from November 2010 to December 2010, NAR reported.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement, “Modest gains in the labor market and the improving economy are creating a more favorable backdrop for buyers, allowing them to take advantage of excellent housing affordability conditions. Mortgage rates should rise only modestly in the months ahead, so we’ll continue to see a favorable environment for buyers with good credit.”

NAR reported last week that the sales rate for existing homes rose about 12.3 percent from November 2010 to December 2010, but fell 2.9 percent compared to December 2009. The median price of existing homes dropped about 1 percent year-over-year in December, to $168,800.

Sales of new single-family homes were up an estimated 17.5 percent from November 2010 to December 2010 and fell about 7.6 percent year-over-year in December, the U.S. Census Bureau and Housing and Urban Development Department reported Wednesday. The median price rose about 8.5 percent year-over-year in December, to $241,500.

On Mercer Island, Wash., waterfront sales nearly tripled in 2010, compared with a year earlier, reaching par with 2006 volume there. Sales on Hilton Head Island, S.C., rose 14% for the year. Palm Beach, Fla., experienced a 40% annual increase and a 54% increase in homes under contract, indicating an especially strong fourth quarter. Palm Beach sales volume now is comparable to its 2007 peak. These figures were gleaned by brokers in each locale.

“The proverbial train has left the station,” said Ned Monell, an agent with Sotheby’s International Realty in Palm Beach. “We haven’t felt energy like this in a long time. Buyers sense that they’ve been on the sidelines long enough.”

The question now is whether the momentum will last. The strength of second-home sales paints a stark contrast to the overall housing market, which is expected to worsen in 2011.

Existing-home sales in November rose 5.6% on an annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors, a trade and lobbying group. Last month, the Case-Shiller housing index of 20 cities showed prices across the U.S. fell in October, and most analysts predict another 5% to 10% slide in the coming year.

Data for the nationwide vacation-home market aren’t tracked regularly. The National Association of Realtors conducts an annual survey of home buyers, but results for 2010 won’t be out till March.

Yet the market for vacation homes, based on local sales data, appears to be booming. The comeback, NAR economist Lawrence Yun said, has been helped by gains in the stock market and an improving economy, which have made wealthier Americans more upbeat about the future. “It also implies that prices in some markets have come down so much that people are fighting for those properties,” said Mr. Yun, noting that demand is strongest in areas close to stable labor markets.

According to the NAR, one in 10 real-estate transactions in 2009 was for the purchase of a vacation home. And though a small fraction of the overall market, it is significant because vacation homes are often big-ticket properties and attract discretionary buyers. Just four houses sold last year on Madeline Island, Wis., for example, but the island’s average dwelling sells at two to three times the price of the county average, said Eric Kodner, a realty broker on the island.

Sales of second homes are showing an uptick even in more-affordable communities. In some locations, prices are even inching upward. Cape Cod sales climbed nearly 9% in 2010 from 2009, while prices rose 7%. Monroe County, Pa., in the heart of the Pocono Mountains, saw a 3% decline in transactions, but its Lake Naomi resort community was up nearly 15%. A one-acre plot off Lake Naomi recently fetched $1.1 million, a record deal for the area.

Still, in most markets where demand has improved, prices haven’t. For Realtor Andy Twisdale in Hilton Head, S.C., it is too soon to rejoice; prices are down almost a third over the past five years. “People are buying at the very low end of the product,” he said. “The financing is very difficult. Banks are requiring 25% down and crystal clean credit.”

Buyers who qualify or can pay cash say this is the time to take the plunge. On New Year’s Day, the Makarewicz family arrived in Pocono Pines, Pa., to look for a vacation home. They already own their primary residence in northern New Jersey and own a property in Damascus, a northeastern Pennsylvania town along the Delaware River. But the family says the latter doesn’t offer enough things to do: Not enough shopping. Not enough activities for kids. Not even enough fish.

“How’s the bass here?” Joe Makarewicz, a vice president for sales at a financial-services firm, asked Re/Max Realtor Rob Baxter as the two looked at floor plans.

The family plans to sell the Damascus house, which would allow them to pay cash for one near Lake Naomi. The resort community at Lake Naomi boasts pools, tennis courts, a recreation center and a golf course—and is equidistant from New York and Philadelphia.

Some second homes had been stuck on the market because sellers wouldn’t budge on price; unlike owners of primary homes, they often aren’t in a hurry to move.

“Sellers have become aware that they have to price their homes accordingly,” said Harald Grant, a senior vice president at Sotheby’s in New York’s ritzy Hamptons region. “There’s a perk in the market because a lot of prices have come down to where they should be.”

This shift became clear to K. David Hirschey, who runs a consulting business in Minneapolis, as he hunted for a home on Madeline Island.

After competing in a summer swimming competition on the island, Mr. Hirschey decided to buy a home there, perhaps to rent it a few years and maybe retire there eventually. The first offer he made was rejected, he recalled, because the seller said, “We don’t negotiate on properties here.” The same thing happened with his bid on the next house.

Then he found a third property—four bedrooms, three baths—that began as a sale by owner, was taken off the market, then relisted under one broker, then another. It had been initially priced at $1.25 million, and remained on sale for two years.

“When I saw it, it was listed at $687,000,” said Mr. Hirschey, a father of four children. He offered $530,000, furnishings included. “They wanted to negotiate and I said no,” he said.

The tactic—an all-cash offer—worked, and Mr. Hirschey closed on the house in November, just in time for his family to spend the holidays there.

By S. Mitra Kalita (Wall Street Journal)