Valencia County Sales Steady In Late 2009

For the third month in a row closed residential sales were fairly strong in Valencia County. Total closed sales in Valencia County for residential homes for Belen, Los Lunas, Bosque Farms, Peralta and the balance of the county was 55 in the month of November. That is up from 32 in November 2008. Part of the reason the county had stronger sales numbers for September, October, and November this year is due to the crunch to get closed before the end of November to qualify for the first time buyer credit, which ended up being irrellivant since that program has been expanded and extended until mid 2010. I anticipate that this will have same type of affect early next year.

All things considered 2009 will not be an outstanding year for closed transactions in Valencia County, however, it seems we have bottomed out in volume and possibly price. Most likely we will end up with less closings than 2008.

Short Sale Guidelines Announced by Treasury

What is a Short Sale? In a nut shell it is a situation where a seller can not sell a home for enough money to pay off the mortgage. Currently, there are many homeowners in the Belen and Los Lunas area that are in this situation. As professional Realtors, we have be troubled with a long and arduous process to get Short Sale offers approved. Some deals taking as long as 6 or more months to get to closing.

You might think that it would be out of the question for your lender to accept less money than what is owed, right? Well, in many cases the lender will benefit from a Short Sale as opposed to Foreclosure. Once a lender has foreclosed on your home they now have to maintain, secure, and market the home for sale, not to mention pay their attorney for handling the foreclosure. A typical foreclosure in the State of New Mexico, when dealing with a Mortgage as the security instrument, will take any where from 7 to 12 months from the day the borrower makes their last payment.

The announcement that the Treasury has created and released long-awaited guidelines to streamline Short Sales is big news. This will have a huge impact on the homeowner that is backed up against the wall without many options. The most significant points in this guideline are the following: Short Sale requests must be responded to by the lender within 10 business days, Seller will be released from all liability for repayment of the mortgage debt, and the seller is entitled to a relocation incentive of $1,500.00 at closing.

Preserving The Past In Valencia County

Los Lunas
Recently the efforts of the Torres family paid off in successfully having the Luna Mansion Wall recognized as a integral part of the property that they recently purchased. It is comforting to drive down Main Street and see that old rock and metal wall doing it's job. In recent years it has been wonderful to see other buildings that have been renovated and preserved with the "feel" of old. The Heritage Arts Museum on Main Street in Los Lunas is a great example of the efforts of the group headed by Patty Guggino.

Often times it is hard to find a balance between modernizing the world we live, while protecting the things that stand as a tribute to our heritage. You do not have to go far in Los Lunas to find someone that will complain about the bottle neck at Main Street as it nears HWY 314 (hopefully someday soon we can have an alternate route through town). The old buildings in and around Valencia County are examples of unique architecture, that in many cases, is not seen anywhere else in the world.

Tax Credit Extension-All The Hype

By now most folks know that the tax credit offered to first time buyers has been extended. It gives buyers some more time to take advantage of the "free" money that is being offered. I have mixed feelings about the whole idea. Ultimately in the end that money has to come from somewhere, so for now the Government is content to borrow it and give it to those that can purchase by the deadline.

The original deal was only for first time buyers, but has now been expanded to those that have owned in the past. It really did not create a huge demand for the Valencia County real estate that has been on the market. In my estimation it caused a few people to "pull the trigger" but for the most part just reassured some buyers and gave them a few bucks for furniture after tax time. Belen, Los Lunas, Peralta, and Bosque Farms have all seen a decrease in closed transactions over last year.

At this point I encourage all sellers to hang in there, it will get better. I am hopeful that the spring of 2010 will usher in some new deals and get things moving again.

Valencia County Homes SOLD in October 2009

Sales of residential homes have been sluggish all year long in Belen, Los Lunas, Bosque Farms, Peralta and the remainder of Valencia County. We are finally seeing bigger numbers compared to 2008 here at the end of the year. According to SWMLS data, October of 2009 had 51 homes sold with the Median home price at $134,000.00 compared to the same month in 2008 at 30 homes sold with the Median home price holding at the same number. Encouraging, however, when you compare to 2007 there were 62 homes sold and in 2006 there were 96 homes sold in the month of October, the drastic drop in sales in the County becomes evident.

Needless to say it is a buyers market, even in Valencia County New Mexico. The conditions of the market it make it an unprecedented time to buy. Especially if you are trying to buy a home priced over $200,000.00. The abundance of inventory and the amount of REO (bank owned properties) and short sale opportunities make it an ideal time to "trade up" to a larger or more expensive home.

Of course you will need an experienced Real Estate Professional to assist in your endeavour. Check us out at www.alonzobaldonado.remax.com.