John Hummer, Owner & Broker

We recently completed our 2007 Market Report for Las Cruces, New Mexico. Should you wish to read an objective assessment of our local market, click this link:

http://www.steinbornmgt.com/uploaded_documents/BUY_NOW.pdf

The report reiterates the fact that all real estate is local. It covers inventory levels, pricing trends and commentary of the strength of our market compared to other regions in the united states. I would welcome any and all comments on this report format and quality of analysis. Our goal is to perform this report annually and are welcome to any and all critiques.

When the national press continuously hammers the overall state of housing, it is no wonder that the public has high anxiety about the housing market. The media would have you believe that all markets are suffering like Las Vegas, Detroit and Florida. Las Cruces, New Mexico is an example that real estate is local. For 2007, Las Cruces closed out its third best year in its history of MLIS record keeping. Although our total unit sales dropped from 2,435 in 2006 to 2,001 in 2007 (-18% decline), our total dollar volume dropped from $1.02 billion in 2006 to $862 million in 2007 (-15.5% decline). Our market continued to experience positive price appreciation.

Fortunately, for the Steinborn GMAC team, our dollar volume only dropped 10.8% in 2007 vs 2006 thus beating the Las Cruces market by 44%. I am no Nostrodamus but I believe that Las Cruces' best days are ahead.

From a national perspective, if for no other reason than pure politics, I do not see the Republican administration allowing the economy to be a negative issue heading into the November elections. The War is already a drag on the party in power, therefore I believe they will do everything in their power to provide stimulus packages to infuse more capital into the economy and push for continuous drops in the interest rates. And should the dollar continue to drop in value oversees, our national exports will serve as a positive prop for our economy. But with all prognosticators, I could be wrong.

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