The Real Estate Market Is Booming in Albuquerque
When Meryl Manning Segel looks out the window of her Northeast Heights home each evening at dusk‚ the bright streaks of electric pink and orange glowing across the sky never cease to amaze her.
The desire for that kind of Albuquerque scenery‚ in addition to the area’s afford ability‚ quality of life and consistent market conditions‚ is helping sustain a booming residential real estate market.
Segel‚ a native New Yorker who relocated to Albuquerque 20 years ago‚ works as a qualifying broker for Scott Patrick Homes‚ a locally owned custom homebuilder that has grown exponentially over the past several years.
“What we have is a very consistent market‚” Segel says. “Albuquerque isn’t seeing the high-highs and low-lows other markets have seen. We’re also seeing people from the Bay Area‚ Southern California‚ the East Coast and cities like Chicago – people who can pretty much live anywhere they want – move here for the quality of life. New Mexico has been somewhat of a hidden secret until now.”
For companies such as Scott Patrick Homes and its extended family of businesses – including Sky View Homes‚ an affordable‚ custom home-building business‚ and Mesa Verde‚ a real estate development company – the recent boom in residential growth has prompted a steep increase in profits.
Subdivisions are popping up all over the city‚ with the most pronounced growth occurring in the southwest and northwest quadrants.
National builders such as Centex Homes‚ a Fortune 200 company based in Dallas‚ are also doing their share to keep up with demand.
According to Virgil Polk‚ division president for Centex Homes New Mexico‚ the company is currently involved in several successful neighborhoods‚ includ ing Cabezon in Rio Rancho‚ and Alegria‚ an active adult community in Bernalillo “The expansion and growth last year tested the market and trade base‚” says Polk‚ who has worked for Centex Homes for more than 26 years. “Last year‚ we were able to grow our units over the previous year by 30 percent.”
Another large builder based in Los Angeles‚ KB Home‚ has completed nearly 4‚600 homes in 65 new communities throughout greater Albuquerque since establishing its New Mexico division in 1995.
According to Fred Mondragon‚ director of the economic development department for the city of Albuquerque‚ one of the area’s most exciting projects for future residential and commercial development is Mesa del Sol. The new 12‚900-acre community on Albuquerque’s southeast mesa is projected to add more than 30‚000 new homes and nearly 20 million square feet of industrial‚ commercial and retail space.
In addition‚ Mondragon points to a future 57‚000-acre project on the west side of town that will be developed by SunCal Cos.‚ a California-based developer of master-planned and mixed-use communities throughout the western United States. He says the project‚ which is currently in the first stages of planning‚ is also expected to contribute significantly to future growth.
