The Santa Fe, N.M., luxury second-home market is the world's "hottest" — at least according to an annual report from Christie's International Real Estate.
"The Luxury Thermometer," a part of the high-end real estate company's 2018 "Luxury Defined Global Report," described Santa Fe as the No. 1 'Hottest Second-Home Market.' The city topped the worldwide list that included Muskoka, Ontario; Sarasota, Fla., Sun Valley, Idaho, and the Bahamas.
"A market that lagged after the 2008 recession is finally catching up — known to have an excellent quality of life and relative affordability is seeing a surge of new buyers creating inventory shortages throughout the city," the report states about The City Different's second-home home sales.
Christie's does not define what is considered a luxury home. David Barker, owner of Barker Realty, Christie's Santa Fe affiliate, said for Santa Fe this would be homes selling for $1 million or more.
Of the 21 properties in Santa Fe on Christie's International Real Estate's website, only one is below $1 million, at $919,000. The highest-priced property is the $11.5 million "Opera House" on Circle Drive, an 11-acre, 6-bedroom estate that includes three guesthouses and a tennis court.
According to Barker Realty/Christie's International Real Estate's first-quarter report for Santa Fe County, there were 158 luxury sales in 2017, compared to 133 in 2016. In the first quarter of 2018, there were 40 luxury sales with a median sales price of $1.25 million, compared to the 27 during the same period last year at a median price of $1.35 million.
There isn't any hard data on how many luxury homes sold in Santa Fe are second homes, Barker said. But he estimated second-home buyers make up more than 50 percent of the luxury market, including buyers who intend to eventually make their Santa Fe home a primary residence.
He said 2017's numbers are a part of a "long-term," upward trend for Santa Fe's luxury home market that he expects to continue. Barker said Santa Fe ranks highly nationwide in quality of life and culture and more young people in their 30s and 40s are moving to Santa Fe because of evolving opportunities to work from home. Also, Santa Fe's housing market had a relatively slow recovery from the recession, he said, meaning buyers' budgets go further than they do elsewhere.
"What $1 million buys you in Santa Fe is so much more than other markets," said Barker.
