Local home sales on decline

The presence of Cannon Air Force Base and its special operations mission, a local Realtor said, creates more of a trend in Portales and Clovis than any statewide factors.

Recent sales figures released by the Realtors Association of New Mexico show an upward trend in sales and a downward trend in median home values, while figures specific to the Clovis Portales Association of Realtors indicates downward trends in both.

Brett Johnson, president of the CPAR, noted that sales peaked from 2009 to 2010, when the base was having a bigger influx in population. The last 12 months, Johnson said, saw 231 homes sold in Clovis. During those same time frames in previous years, the units sold were 248 in 2010-11, 363 in 2009-10 and 271 in 2008-09.

"Most of our statistics are base-driven," Johnson said. "And as I understand it, the base does not move as many people out as a fighter wing."

According to the state association, 4,227 units have been sold in 2012, an increase of 8.6 percent from the same point in 2011. But the median value has gone from $165,000 to $160,000.

Those same numbers in Clovis and Portales for 2012, respectively, are 121 units with a median value of $129,900 for Clovis and 31 units with a median value of $113,000. In 2011, those numbers were 162 units sold with a median value of $135,000 for Clovis and 27 units sold with a median value of $109,950 for Portales.

Johnson said the gains in Portales are more a sign of the growth of the association, as it now includes reports from Realtors who weren't part of the association in previous years. The association has about 135 members in the two cities.

While nearly two-thirds of reporting counties showed an increase in the number of sales comparing April 2012 to April 2011, only half of the reporting counties show an increase in median prices for the same period. Bernalillo County reported an increase in number of sales and an increase in median prices comparing April 2012 to April 2011. Dona Ana, Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Taos counties reported an increase in sales numbers but a decrease in median prices.

"The price of housing is steady," Johnson said. "It's just that in this small of a market, you can't look at median values. The older homes have come down a little bit in price, but our homes are pretty steady pricewise."

Johnson said the value of older homes has taken a hit in no small part to an April 2010 federal law applying to houses built before 1978. In those cases, professional work on any home requires hiring a company with certification in dealing with lead-based paint issues.

"It's caused the value of these older homes to go down a little bit," Johnson said. "It takes more to work on them, unless you work on them yourself (and it's your primary residence). That has stigmatized these older properties. It costs more to get stuff worked on."

A look at home sales in Curry and Roosevelt counties

Curry County

Jan. 1-May 15, 2010: 158 units sold, median value of $142,750

Jan. 1-May 15, 2011: 162 units sold, median value of $135,000

Jan. 1-May 15, 2012: 121 units sold, median value of $129,900

Roosevelt County

Jan. 1-May 15, 2010: 23 units sold, median value of $120,000

Jan. 1-May 15, 2011: 27 units sold, median value of $109,950

Jan. 1-May 15, 2012: 31 units sold, median value of $113,000

Source: Realtors Association of New Mexico