Forty-five luxury units that aren’t selling will be offered during an auction on Sunday
When an auctioneer raises the gavel Sunday, it won’t be art, antiques or an evicted family’s possessions going up on the block. Instead, people will be bidding on their very own piece of the City Different.
With only about 30 of the 145 units at The Alameda condominium development in south Santa Fe sold so far, another 45 are going up for auction, a reflection of the current sluggish real estate market.
“I think it’s the first of its kind like this” in New Mexico, said David Barker of Barker Realty Inc. Some properties have been auctioned in the past, but usually only one or two at a time, and generally because they had gone into foreclosure, he said.
This is a situation where a new development, billed as luxury condos with “distinctive southwestern touches,” simply can’t find enough buyers.
“Santa Fe has never seen anything like this before. It’s a rare and unique opportunity for people to get a good deal,” Barker said.
It’s not new for the nation, though. Rhett Winchell, president of Kennedy Wilson Auction Group, said his firm has held about 16 auctions in the last year-and-a-half of new home developments. “Auctions typically are done in a slow market like we’re experiencing now,” said Winchell, whose firm is based in Beverly Hills, Calif. “It’s a good way to come to a market value in the current market.”
Winchell said “we’ve had some very good interest” in the one- and two-bedroom condos that will be up for auction, but refused to give specific numbers. Both local and outof-town residents have expressed interest, he said.
At a “how to buy” seminar earlier this week, about 60 or 70 people attended, with others stopping by sporadically, Barker said. Buyers must register in advance and prequalify for financing. The auction commences at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort & Spa, 1297 Bishop’s Lodge Road.
The condos, which had been priced from $189,000 to $310,605, are being listed for auction at a minimum of $120,000 to $199,000. Recent statistics released by the Santa Fe Association of Realtors show that 137 condos or townhomes were sold in the city for the first half of the year, with a median price of $265,000. From January through June of 2007, 196 units had sold with a median price of $303,500.
Barker’s firm has been handling sales on The Alameda so far. “Most are buying a second home or downsizing, buying it as their primary home,” he said. People buying second homes have come from Texas, California, New York, Florida and Illinois, Barker said, but added, “We had people from Eldorado who downsized and moved closer to town.”
He praised the location on Vegas Verdes Drive, saying people can walk to a grocery store, pet store, the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, and a hiking and biking trail. It also overlooks, to the south, trashpiled Dumpsters in the back lot of Sam’s Club across from an arroyo where, during a foothills-centered downpour Monday, a body washed up just a few blocks upstream.
In a town where people picture “luxury living” in the rolling foothills of the north or east sides, Barker admits, “By many people’s standards, it’s a B location.” While the entrance is off congested Cerrillos Road, heavy with retail chains, the condos are far enough removed to soften the hustle-bustle, he said.
People who initially dismissed moving there because of the location, he said, have been “really amazed” once they’ve taken a look inside, he said. “All the interior views are quiet, unique,” he said, explaining that they overlook a courtyard with a swimming pool, cabana and fireplace. Especially above the first story, exterior views reveal mountain ranges in all directions, he said.
Winchell said an auction offers buyers an opportunity to see what everyone else is paying for a similar property. As people see how the bidding proceeds, they can get a better idea of how much they want to spend and how large, or well-situated, a unit they can afford, he said.
Winchell said he expects all the units up for auction will be sold. “There will obviously be a lot of happy homeowners once it’s done,” he said.
