I recently returned from the REALTORS ® Association of New Mexico annual convention. After many formal and informal discussions my conclusion is that real estate really is local! I know that the National Association of REALTORS ® has been pushing that theme for the past year or so and I bought in to it, but not wholly. However, at the convention there seemed to be a reported disparity of markets between communities in New Mexico. While some commented that the market is sluggish, many stated that their market was only showing minute slowdowns. The northern and central markets seem to be seeing the highest decrease in sales while the southern half of New Mexico is reporting a slight softening of the market. All areas show an increase in inventory of homes. Most stated that prices are coming down but generally these price reductions are on the high end homes and builder track homes. It has been reported that New Mexico dodged a bullet in the subprime market. Generally, the players in the secondary market didn™t purchase many loans in New Mexico.

One of the highlights of the conference was a session on risk reduction. The speaker covered the basics of disclosure, loan fraud what to look for, HUD rules on flipping and RESPA. The new Attorney for the state association talked about Deeds of Trust, Domestic well regulations, regulations relating to Meth Labs, fractional ownerships and FIRPTA. Our great friend and colleague Al Winklejohn was recipient of this years state REALTOR ® of the Year award. Overall it was a good conference!