Looking for help with your down payment? The national nonprofit Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation offers down-payment assistance through its "Dream Makers" program. Active-duty personnel, as well as veterans and members of the Reserves and National Guard, and employees of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are eligible to apply for up to $5,000 in down payment and closing costs on the purchase of a first home.

Program eligibility is available under three scenarios: if you are a first-time homebuyer; if you have not owned a home for the last three years; or if you have lost your home through divorce or disaster. Your gross household income, including allowances, to quality for a mortgage loan can be up to $55,000 per year, or 80 percent of your community's median income based on family size.

You must own the home for five years; if the house is sold before that period is up, a portion of the grant must be repaid. For more information, click on the "Dream Makers" link at www.PentagonFoundation.org.


Single-family home sales were up by more than 13 percent (from 84 to 93) in Santa Fe city and county, comparing July 2011 to July 2010. While home sales rose, the overall median price of homes in Santa Fe city/county dropped from $364,012 in July 2010 to $330,000 in July 2011, a 9 percent decline.

While prices trended down, the volume of home sales moved up, from $40.4 million in July 2010 to $43.9 million in July 2011. Prices remain very competitive, with some home deals attracting multiple offers.

Condo and townhome sales fell modestly, from 19 in July 2010 to 16 in July 2011, and the median price jumped to $315,000 this year from $242,000 last year. Land sales dropped off, with only three sales reported in July 2011 compared to 10 land sales in July 2010.

Statistical reports for Santa Fe's multiple listing service second-quarter housing are now available at http://sfar.com/newsite/content/search/mlsstats.asp. You will also find 18 local housing-market updates, including for Española and Los Alamos.


The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has set up a new, Web-based mapping tool that features the locations of all foreclosed properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. This list of foreclosed homes represents nearly half of all real estate owned properties in the United States.

Real estate owned, or REO, properties are foreclosed properties that did not sell at auction and have been returned to the lender.

The mapping tool is designed to help communities, homebuyers and responsible investors purchase these properties, and quicken efforts to stabilize local housing markets. The Real-Estate Owned Properties Portal may also be of help to those communities currently using HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to buy, rehab and/or demolish such properties.

The portal allows users to map available properties and provides consolidated listing information for user-defined neighborhoods with details such as property list date, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms. To view the new HUD REO portal, go to: www.huduser.org/REO/reo.html

Donna Reynolds is chief executive of the Santa Fe Association of Realtors (www.sfar.com).