The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is designed to help homeowners in states where home prices have fallen at least 20% statewide.  The five identified states are: Arizona, Nevada, California, Michigan, and Florida.  All of these markets have notoriously taken a big hit in the past few years due to previous rapid appreciation, speculation, and the weak economy.

Obama has blamed irresponsible lending practices for much of the problems, and is trying to make sure that the money is properly spent by state and local finance agencies. A very specific application process for lending institutions has been designed to create oversight for the program.

The program seeks to aid troubled homeowners by modifying their mortgage and lower their monthly interest rates through participating lenders. The lender then lowers the interest rate, and the feds provides subsidies to the lender and borrower. According to Herb Allison, assistant secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability, the program should help approximately 3 to 4 million Americans before it terminates at the end of 2012. Currently, about 1 million homeowners have had their mortgages amended due to the plan.

Unfortunately, New Mexico isn’t currently part of the program, which does cause some concern.  Sure, our home prices haven’t dropped as a whole by 20%, but unemployment is high, and many homeowners are teetering on the edge of default. As with all governmental programs, this one may be ammended to fit more states, particularly if the money isn’t being spent in the currently eligible states.  Time will tell.

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton

Additionally, the usually relatively negative Standard and Poors Case Shiller index also reported a rise in 14 of 20 major markets it tracks. This report represented the sixth consecutive month of price increases. 

The mortgage industry is also reporting good news for potential home buyers. Rates ranging in the 4.5% range (at least in the Santa Fe area) are being offered by the lenders we know in town, and they believe that this trend will continue for quite some time.

What does this all mean to the Santa Fe Home buyer? In our opinion…it’s a great time to buy.  The signs of a nationwide financial turnaround combined with relatively low home prices and historically low financing make home buying a better option than it has been in the past 30 + years. There are loads of great properties on the market in Santa Fe, and most seller’s have come to terms with the fact that their property values have taken a bit of a hit, resulting in competitively priced houses.

So if you’re in the market to buy in Santa Fe, give us a call!

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

This article was just posted on the New mexican website. Though none of us have a crystal ball, the statistics certainly give us some good insight.  We can say with certainity that Sales are picking up, and prices have gone down. For more details please contact us

Santa Fe real-estate market may stabilize as 4th quarter prices declined

Bruce Krasnow | The New Mexican
 The best news Santa Fe Realtors have about 2009 is that it’s over.

The 4th quarter median price for homes sold in the city and county declined 9 percent to $335,000. But, buoyed by a federal tax credit, the number of homes sold increased from a year ago by 16 percent to 274 in October, November and December. Still, the sales were less than half what they were in 2005, the peak sales year of the past decade.

In addition, the number of housing starts in the city of Santa Fe hit a 40 year low with 180 permits in 2009. Reed Liming, a planner with the city, said one has to go back to 1969 before new home construction starts were at that level.

Finally, the number of agents who renewed their membership to the Santa Fe Association of Realtors declined 15 percent to 795 as of this month, said Lois Sury, the new association president, and the group has trimmed its budget to adjust.

Sury said the nation has gone through a historic economic downturn, “One I’d rather read about in history books than live through again. ” The housing market in Santa Fe has adjusted, she said at the quarterly breakfast meeting Wednesday where the statistics were released.’

She said the final sales price of a home was at 93 percent of the listing at the end of 2009, up from 80 percent a year ago — and that shows sellers have adjusted their expectations.

“Affordability continues to improve, with more sales at the lower end of the market affecting the overall median price of homes,” she said.

Jane Trusty, an appraiser at the breakfast, called the first half of 2009 difficult, and with sluggish sales it was often hard to find comparable homes for valuation.

“We’re breathing quite a sigh of relief,” she said. “What we found in the last two quarters is that things have stabilized quite a bit,” Trusty said.

The first half of 2009 saw stability in median sales prices — but agents say many homes were not being sold because sellers were not prepared for lower offers.

That was not the case in the third quarter, which saw a 20 percent decline in the median sold price. The just-ended quarter saw the median sold price in the unincorporated area drop 18 percent to $350,000. Prices of sold homes in the city of Santa Fe fell 6 percent to $329,500.

“Prices have reset,” said Sury

Many sales under $500,000 are a result of the federal tax credit that has been expended under the economic stimulus plan. The credit is now open to existing homeowners who want to move up or downsize — but homes must be under contract by April 30 to receive the credit, $8,000 for new buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers.

And it’s not just for move-up buyers. Sury is seeing long-time homeowners who want to downsize take advantage of the program to purchase something smaller, she said.

“It’s your tax money,” she said. “You might as well use it.”

Gary Miller a mortgage specialist with Century Bank, said there is an upward trend in mortgage interest rates from Wednesday’s average of 5.2 percent on a 30-year fixed rate loan. That means the first three months of 2010 brings a convergence of low prices, low borrowing costs and the tax credit. He tells potential buyers that it won’t last.

“It’s important to take action now,” he said.

“We’re going to see far more interest in the fourth quarter than we generally do because of the tax credit,” said Heather Fernandez, vice president of Trulia.com, a real estate search engine. Traffic surged on the site on Nov. 5, the day Congress approved the credit extension, she said.

The new law extends the tax credit for first-time home buyers and opens it up to some existing homeowners as well: The credit is now 10% of the home price, up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and up to $6,500 for repeat buyers. All buyers must have a binding contract on a house in place on or before April 30, 2010. The sale must close on or before June 30. 2010.

To be considered a first-time home buyer, an individual must not have owned a home in the past three years. And to be eligible, existing homeowners need to have lived in the same principal residence for five consecutive years during the eight-year period that ends when the new home is purchased. The credit is only for principal residences.

Income limits have risen as well. According to the IRS, the home buyer tax credit now phases out for individuals with modified adjusted gross incomes between $125,000 and $145,000, and between $225,000 and $245,000 for people filing joint returns.

The inclusion of move-up buyers might inspire homeowners to take action and list their house if they’ve been putting it off, said Carolyn Warren, a Seattle, Wash.-based mortgage broker and banker and author of the book Homebuyers Beware. “If somebody loves their home, it’s not going to entice them to sell. If they’ve had it on the back of their minds and really would like to move up, it might push them into doing it sooner than later,” Warren said.

The credit isn’t expected to have as large of an effect on move-up buyers as it has on first-time buyers, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions. The maximum tax credit is about 4% of the average purchase price for first-time buyers, but about 2% of the average purchase price for move-up buyers.

“We estimate that the first-time home buyer tax credit will result in a 10% increase in home sales from March through November of 2009,” said Thomas Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys, in a news release. “We’d expect the effect of the proposed tax credit for current homeowners to be about half as large—from December until the tax credit expiration in the spring of next year, it might be 5% of 3 million transactions, or about 150,000 incremental home sales. Incremental sales to first-time home buyers could be an additional 300,000, for a total of 450,000 incremental sales due to the tax credit extension.”

Tips for buyers
Interested in buying a home and claiming the home-buyer tax credit? Below are five tips:

1. Don’t procrastinate. Start searching for a home now. Getting an early start will give you a better chance of finding the right house before the credit deadline. Before you start house hunting, get preapproved for a mortgage, said Eddie Fadel, a Miami-based mortgage banker, and do a realistic assessment of what you can afford. Buyers who have to sell an existing home should price it aggressively from the beginning to drum up interest and get a buyer as soon as possible.

2. Don’t count on another extension. The credit won’t be available forever, Fadel said. If you want to take advantage, be sure to make that spring deadline.

“This is a medication for the housing crisis. Once the patient—which is the housing market—cures, there will be no medication needed,” he said.

3. Mind the interest rates. Mortgage interest rates are low right now, but will likely rise next year. Higher rates will affect your monthly mortgage payments, thus the affordability of the house you are buying. Average rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage have been hovering around 5%, but when the government stops buying large amounts of mortgage-backed securities, rates could rise.

4. Communicate with your lender. Throughout the process, make sure you’re communicating with your lender regularly; if there’s a piece of documentation you’re asked for, get it turned in as soon as possible, said Doug Heddings, a New York-based real estate agent with Charles Rutenberg Realty. Good communication is important in making sure the loan closes on time. And think twice before pursuing a short sale if you want to make the credit deadline. That’s where someone sells a home for less than what he or she owes on a mortgage, with permission of the lender. The process can be lengthy and unpredictable because the homeowner’s lender has to approve any deal, and can be complicated when there is a second mortgage associated with the property.

5. Don’t take shortcuts. Don’t forgo any of the steps you would normally take just to make the tax credit deadline. Make sure the house is a good fit for your needs and get a home inspection. Skipping steps could cost you in the long run.

By Amy Hoak

“The big news is that, undaunted by tough times, our readers are still out there, discovering the coolest experiences and reaffirming an enduring passion for travel,” said Conde Nast Traveler Editor in Chief Klara Glowczewska. “It’s clear that our readers are as devoted to the worldwide diversity of travel as ever.”

The full list of winners is on cntraveler.com at: cntraveler.com/readerschoice

The results of the 2009 Readers Choice Awards reveal some surprising news:
–  The friendliest U.S. cities are Charleston, Savannah, and Honolulu, while the least friendly, by an uncomfortable margin is New York (54/100–ouch)
–  Ubud, Bali, is the friendliest town of all
–  Santa Fe, New Mexico, bumped New York City out of the #3 spot for best
U.S. city to visit. San Francisco remained #1 and New York City slid to #4.
–  San Francisco takes the Best U.S. Cities category for a whopping 17th year in a row, a feat never before accomplished by any destination or property.  One reason: its worldwide high restaurant score.
–  Ubud dethrones Bangkok as the Best Asian City. Bangkok held the top spot since the category debuted in 2004.
–  Newcomer Virgin America was once again named the Best Domestic Airline, for the second year in a row, with JetBlue Airways at #2.
–  Singapore Airlines is again the #1 International Route Airline, and has led this category for 21 of the past 22 years. (Only Swissair, in 1994, has taken the top spot from Singapore Airlines.)
–  The growing number of mega-ship cruise lines merit their own category for the first time, led by Celebrity.
–  With so many superb hotels with fewer than 50 rooms, this year’s survey has three new categories: Small Hotels in Europe, Small Hotels in the United States, and Small Resorts in the United States with the Kenwood Inn and Spa taking first place.
–  Fully one-third of the hotels and resorts on our Top 100 list began their journey on our Hot List of the world’s best new properties, published each May, confirming that Conde Nast Traveler readers are ahead of the curve and connoisseurs of the cutting edge.

Below are results for the top three winners in each category.

Top Cities United States
1. San Francisco
2. Charleston, SC
3. Santa Fe

Top Cities Europe
1. Florence
2. Rome
3. Venice

Top Cities Asia
1. Ubud, Bali
2. Bangkok
3. Hong Kong

Top Cities Africa/Middle East
1. Cape Town
2. Jerusalem
3. Beirut

Top Cities The Americas
1. Vancouver
2. Buenos Aires
3. Quebec City

Top Cities Australia/Pacific
1. Sydney
2. Melbourne
3. Queenstown

Top Islands Caribbean/Atlantic
1. Bermuda
2. St. John
3. St. Barts

Top Islands Pacific

1. Maui
2. Kauai
3. Bora Bora

Top Islands Asia/Indian Ocean
1. Maldives
2. Bali
3. Phuket

Top Islands North America
1. Kiawah, SC
2. Vancouver Island
3. Nantucket, MA

Top Islands Europe
1. Mykonos and the Cyclades
2. Bozcaada and the Turkish Aegean Islands
3. Capri

Top Resorts Asia
1. Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Chiang Rai
2. Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan
3. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

Top Resorts Mexico
1. One & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos
2. The Tides, Riviera Maya
3. The Tides, Zihuatanejo

Top Resorts Africa
1. Mombo and Little Mombo Camps, Botswana
2. Sandibe Safari Lodge, Botswana
3. Safari Lodges at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Top Resorts Europe
1. Hotel du Palais, Biarritz
2. Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo
3. Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co. Limerick

Top Resorts Hawaii
1. Four Season Resort Maui at Wailea
2. Four Season Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu, Big Island
3. Four Seasons Resort Lana’i, The Lodge at Koele

Top Resorts Atlantic Ocean
1. The Reefs, Bermuda
2. One & Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas
3. Grace Bay Club, Turks and Caicos

Top Resorts Middle East
1. Burj Al Arab, Dubai
2. Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
3. One & Only Royal Mirage, Dubai

Top Resorts Oceana
1. Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa
2. Huka Lodge, Taupo, New Zealand
3. La Taha’a Island Resort & Spa, French Polynesia

Top Resorts Mainland U.S.
1. Sanctuary at Kiawah Island
2. Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach
3. Montage Laguna Beach

Top Small Resorts Mainland U.S.
1. Kenwood Inn and Spa, Sonoma
2. Casa Palermo, Pebble Beach
3. Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin

Top Resorts Canada
1. King Pacific Lodge, Princess Royal Island
2. Emerald Lake Lodge, Alberta
3. Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Vancouver Island

Top Resorts Caribbean
1. Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
2. Curtain Bluff, Antigua
3. Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, Nevis

Top Resorts Central/South America
1. Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, Uruguay
2. Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo
3. Hotel Salto Chico, Explora en Patagonia, Chile

Top Cruise Lines Mega-Ship
1. Celebrity
2. Disney
3. Cunard

Top Cruise Lines Large Ships
1. Crystal
2. Regent Seven Seas
3. Cunard

Top Cruise Lines Small Ships
1. Sea Cloud
2. Yachts of Seabourn
3. Regent Seven Seas

Top Airlines Global
1. Singapore Airlines
2. Emirates
3. Tie: Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific

Top Airlines North America
1. Virgin America
2. JetBlue Airways
3. Midwest Airlines

Top Car Rental Agencies
1. Hertz
2. Enterprise
3. Avis

Top Hotels Southern Europe
1. Il San Pietro di Positano, Positano, Italy
2. Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole, Tuscany
3. Four Season George V, Paris

Top Hotels Northern Europe
1. Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden
2. Four Seasons Gresham Palace, Budapest
3. Ritz-Carlton, Berlin

Top Small Hotels Europe
1. La Scalinatella, Capri
2. La Colombe d’Or, St-Paul de Vence
3. Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, Lake Garda

Top Hotels Central America
1. Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Osa Peninsuala, Costa Rica
2. Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua
3. Villas Caletas, Costa Rica

Top Hotels Oceana
1. Blankey Bay, South Island, New Zealand
2. Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart
3. Park Hyatt, Sydney

Top Hotels British Isles
1. Chewton Glen, Hampshire
2. Milestone Hotel, London
3. The Goring, London

Top Hotels Caribbean/Atlantic
1. Peninsula House, Samana, Dominican Republic
2. The Caves, Jamaica
3. Hotel Le Toiny, St. Barts

Top Hotels Asia
1. Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan
2. Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
3. The Peninsula, Hong Kong

Top Hotels Africa
1. The Saxon, Johannesburg
2. Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town
3. Cape Grace, Cape Town

Top Hotels Canada
1. Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City
2. Fairmont Vancouver Airport
3. Hotel Le Germain-Dominion, Quebec City

Top Hotels Mexico
1. Casa Natalia, San Jose del Cabo
2. Las Mananitas, Cuernavaca
3. JW Marriott Hotel, Mexico City

Top Hotels United States
1. 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville
2. The Peninsula, Chicago
3. Mandarin Oriental, Boston

Top Small Hotels United States
1. Blantyre, Lenox, Mass.
2. The Swag, Great Smoky, Mountains, N.C.
3. Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, Gold Beach, Oregon

Top Hotels South America
1. Hotel Monasterio, Cuzco
2. Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires
3. Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires

Top Hotels Middle East
1. Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai
2. David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem
3. Park Hyatt Dubai

The Readers Choice Awards gala was held on Thursday, October 15th in New York City at the IAC Building and was hosted by Stanley Tucci and Mary Louise Parker. Select photos and video from the event are available upon request.

Methodology
Every year since 1988, a select sample of Conde Nast Traveler readers have taken the Readers’ Choice Survey.  In 2009, the questionnaire was available to all readers through a secure Web site.  The final tabulations of 25,008 responses were done by Mediamark Research, Inc., of New York City.  Poll categories (Cities, Hotels, etc.), and the criteria for each appear at the bottom of the first page in every category.  Questionnaires contained lists of candidates (individual cities, hotels, etc.), and write-ins were allowed. Only candidates that
received a required minimum number of responses were deemed eligible for an award.  Each candidate was rated, by various criterion, on a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor.  Criterion scores, which represent the percentage of respondents rating a candidate excellent or very good, were averaged to determine the final score – e.g., in the category of Islands, Maui’s 90.1 is the average of its scores for Activities, Atmosphere/Ambience, Beaches, Friendliness, Lodging, Restaurants, and Scenery.

SOURCE  Conde Nast Traveler

Sarina Sanandaji, +1-212-286-6898, sarina_sanandaji@condenast.com, or Megan
Montenaro, +1-212-286-4935, megan_montenaro@condenast.com

The impact of the federal home buyer tax credit program, which is now set to continue and even expand through next spring, dominates the housing resale numbers this week.

Sales of existing houses during the third quarter jumped by 11.4 percent over second quarter sales, according to the National Association of Realtors.

And the increase in sales came in pretty much every part of the country — in 45 states along with the District of Columbia.

Check out some of these extraordinary increases — all tied in part to home buyers rushing to complete purchase transactions before the tax credit’s original expiration date of November 30th, plus mortgages at rock bottom five percent rates or less.

In North Dakota, sales were up 42.4 percent, Rhode Island 27 percent, Pennsylvania 26 percent.

In some hard hit local markets, sales gains were almost off the charts. In Orlando, they were up 80 percent for the quarter. In Las Vegas sales were 30 percent higher this year over last.

So do you think things are stirring out there? You bet they are, and economists haven’t yet even begun to assess the potential effects on future sales flowing from the brand new $6,500 tax credit for “repeat” buyers.

That means people who’ve owned their house for a consecutive five of the previous eight years, and now want to downsize, move up or just move to a different location.

That credit, which took effect November 6th, will be available for home purchase contracts signed by April 30th of next year and closed by June 30th.

Of course, not all of the developments underway in the economy right now are favorable to housing and real estate.

Start with the unemployment rate, which just jumped to 10.2 percent, the highest in decades. Most economists agree that the true jobless rate, factoring in people who’ve stopped looking for jobs and those working part time, takes the effective unemployment rate nationally closer to 18 percent.

That’s a major negative for home buying prospects.

And the flip side of record housing sales numbers can’t be ignored either: Prices are still way down from year ago levels in many areas — and they’re down 11 percent during the third quarter compared with 2008.

So that’s all pret The impact of the federal home buyer tax credit program, which is now set to continue and even expand through next spring, dominates the housing resale numbers this week.

Sales of existing houses during the third quarter jumped by 11.4 percent over second quarter sales, according to the National Association of Realtors.

And the increase in sales came in pretty much every part of the country — in 45 states along with the District of Columbia.

Check out some of these extraordinary increases — all tied in part to home buyers rushing to complete purchase transactions before the tax credit’s original expiration date of November 30th, plus mortgages at rock bottom five percent rates or less.

In North Dakota, sales were up 42.4 percent, Rhode Island 27 percent, Pennsylvania 26 percent.

In some hard hit local markets, sales gains were almost off the charts. In Orlando, they were up 80 percent for the quarter. In Las Vegas sales were 30 percent higher this year over last.

So do you think things are stirring out there? You bet they are, and economists haven’t yet even begun to assess the potential effects on future sales flowing from the brand new $6,500 tax credit for “repeat” buyers.

That means people who’ve owned their house for a consecutive five of the previous eight years, and now want to downsize, move up or just move to a different location.

That credit, which took effect November 6th, will be available for home purchase contracts signed by April 30th of next year and closed by June 30th.

Of course, not all of the developments underway in the economy right now are favorable to housing and real estate.

Start with the unemployment rate, which just jumped to 10.2 percent, the highest in decades. Most economists agree that the true jobless rate, factoring in people who’ve stopped looking for jobs and those working part time, takes the effective unemployment rate nationally closer to 18 percent.

That’s a major negative for home buying prospects.

And the flip side of record housing sales numbers can’t be ignored either: Prices are still way down from year ago levels in many areas — and they’re down 11 percent during the third quarter compared with 2008.

So that’s all pretty sobering.

Nonetheless the fact is that the only way we’re going to move towards full recovery is by selling a lot of houses, at very attractive prices and low interest rates.

That’s happening right now in a big way — and it looks like it should continue well into the spring.

by Kenneth R. Harney

The Trust for Public Land signed contracts late Wednesday and paid a nonrefundable deposit to buy about 23 acres that had been proposed for the Mirasol subdivision. The same night, the City Council accepted nearly half the land as publicly owned open space.

“We’re in,” trust director Jenny Parks said Thursday morning, showing off a two-inch stack of real-estate paperwork. “We are guaranteeing public access to the top of Sun Mountain, which has never been there before.”

The property known as the Watson Estate, where the late John T. and Jane Watson raised their family, has long been a popular hiking spot with that family’s blessing. Although access to the trails has not been broken to date, development could have changed that, Parks said.

The trust worked to broker the deal this summer after being approached by an ad hoc group of area residents who conducted a fundraising drive. Next month, the trust expects to completely close on the deal, she said.

Remaining steps include paying the rest of the $3.2 million purchase price to developer Doug McDowell as well as selling a historic home on the property, creating a new lot for another large tract that will stay in private hands, and formally deeding 11 acres to the city of Santa Fe.

McDowell originally planned to create 13 lots on the property and build homes there, but agreed to sell the land instead.

Funding for the deal was complicated, including $1 million from a donor who wants to remain anonymous and $264,500 from more than 100 other private donors. About $1.4 million came from Los Angeles residents Steven Lipscomb and his wife, Miranda Viscoli, who until Thursday were called “an anonymous conservation buyer.”

Lipscomb, founder of the World Poker Tour, already owns several acres and a home on adjacent land and will own 10 acres with a limited development right for two home sites. The couple closed the deal on their house and guest house just weeks before McDowell announced his subdivision plan.

Although the couple is eligible for tax credits because much of their new 10 acres will be in a permanent conservation easement in the care of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust, Parks called the agreement “generous.”

The private landowners will allow continued public use of trails that branch off a driveway on the property, and Lipscomb said late Thursday that the couple has no intention of developing the home sites or stopping access any time soon.

“To the credit to those on both sides of the equation, the Save Sun Mountain group and Doug McDowell said ‘We’ll not make this a fight,’ ” Lipscomb said. “And I think that’s a huge reason of why we are here.”

In the meantime, the property that will come into the city’s hands already has a trail that leads to the foot of the mountain and up toward its summit before crossing onto other open space.

City Parks Division Director Fabian Chavez said the city will have to undertake its own process to ensure the new public land is available as a safe place for recreation. Trail maintenance, development of a trail head, signage and a parking area could be on the list, as well as evaluation for possible fencing, he told city councilors this week.

Sun Mountain neighbor Deborah Post was one of a more than a dozen people who worked to raise funds.

“We started out pretty innocently to minimize the impact of development on the mountain,” she said, which “took a turn and became a much grander objective.”

Husband Steve Post also helped rally support. “I think it’s an amazing community effort to save an important part of Santa Fe’s setting for everyone to enjoy,” he said. “We’re just elated.”

The trust plans to hold a public auction soon for the home already located on the Watson estate. One buyer has already offered $536,000, which will be the opening bid, Parks said.

Closing costs and maintenance money will also be needed, she said, so the fundraising effort continues.

Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican

The action is another important step in the Aamodt case filed 43 years ago to settle the water-rights claims by Nambé, Tesuque, Pojoaque and San Ildefonso pueblos. The pueblos, the state, the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County in 2006 reached a settlement that needs congressional approval. This year, Congress has steadily advanced legislation to ratify and fund the settlement, but no final act has been passed. Some of the nonpueblo landowners in the valley with domestic wells have fought against the settlement for years and continue to oppose portions of it.

Meanwhile, the federal district court must finalize the priority dates on acequias in the valley as part of the settlement. Priority dates were given by the state to more than 70 streams in the area and people with water rights had an opportunity to ask for a change in the date.

Priority dates on irrigation ditches are a critical part of New Mexico’s water law and the wheeling and dealing by cities and developers over water rights. New Mexico follows a “first in time, first in right” approach to water — the first person, or ditch, to use water beneficially has the senior claim on the water. The ditches with the oldest priority dates receive their water first off a stream.

The pueblos are recognized as the first people in the valley to use water for farming and other uses, so they have first rights to water.

Priority dates on the acequias in the Pojoaque Valley range from 1728 within the Rio Tesuque to 1907 on parts of the Rio en Medio. Gerald Peters, for example, believes the priority dates on several irrigation ditches fed by the Rio en Medio should be older than the those given by the state. The state gave the Questa Ditch a 1907 priority date; Peters believes it should be 1899.

According to a legal notice published Friday in The New Mexican, people who have challenged their ditch’s priority date and those who want to challenge any changes have until Dec. 31 to file notice they intend to participate in the court proceedings. They must also attend a pretrial conference Jan. 13 with the special master reviewing the priority dates. This is the only opportunity people with surface water rights will have to participate in the adjudication of priority rights, according to the state. Anyone who doesn’t participate won’t be able to object later.

Staci Matlock | The New Mexican