Santa Fe home prices may be going up in the next few months, making this the ideal time to buy.

That the opinion of title company executive Alan Ball, who puts out a monthly newsletter on local real estate.

In the November issue, Ball says buying a house, at least for first-timers, has been made easier by the federal homebuyer tax credit. He adds that second-home buyers are still coming to Santa Fe and buying real estate and locals are moving up, "just not as fast as we all want."

The good news, Ball states, is that the time to buy will continue for a few more months. "After that you will have waited too long. Price increases are likely to begin just months into the new year," he said.


Real estate may be improving, but the job situation is getting worse, according to the New Mexico Labor Market Review, published by the Department of Work Force Solutions.

For September, the rate of over-the-year job growth was minus 4.1 percent, representing a loss of 2,700 jobs, the publication indicated.

"The Santa Fe job market has been weak for about two years, but the recent data are especially disappointing," the review stated."


Legal opposition to the planned Valverde Commons retirement facility in Taos appears to have ended after three acequia associations that objected to the facility dropped their district court appeal.

A story about Valverde Commons was published in a recent edition of The Taos News.

Eugene A. Sanchez, president of the Acequia de los Sanchez Ditch Association, said the opposition to the development had "run out of money."

Following the dismissal of the appeal, developers Bob Draper and Steven Rose can now begin preparing the 14-acre site off Valverde Road for construction, Dennison said.

Next spring as many as 10 senior citizens are expected to begin building homes on the site. For more information, call Draper at 505-770-0208 or Rose at 505-758-1290.


Dr. Ingrid Mooney, an optometric physician, has moved from an office at Santa Fe Place to a new location at 2019 Galisteo St., Suite M-5.

In doing so, she has opened her new privace practice, Eye Design LLC. Eye Design offers eye exams, contact lens fittings and a variety of designer frames, lenses and accessories.

Mooney received her bachelor's degree from UCLA and her doctorate from the Southern California College of Optometry. She moved to Santa Fe in 2008.

Last year she wrote an article, "A Review of the Potential to Restore Vision with Stem Cells," for the journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry.

For more information, call 820-0794.