SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Santa Fe rental prices are trending down, as a result of higher inventory. With between 900-1,100 new apartment units built this year in Santa Fe, and thousands more on the way, the city is seeing a rent drop.
Zillow reports the current average rent in Santa Fe is $2,400. Which is $150 less than a year ago. This works out to a median rent of $1,700 for a one-bedroom apartment, and $2,000 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to Landseer Management.
“The trend has been, rents going down gradually,” Landseer Management COO Tanya Kil said. “There’s a lot of economic factors that have affected that.”
“I think what we’re seeing is that the law of supply and demand works in economics,” Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber said.
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Landseer Management went on to say that although the current rent isn’t being lowered, new units that go on the market are being listed at a lower rent. Due to the availability being high, and the demand being lower.
Since 2018, the city has issued permits for 407-840 units per year to get more rental housing on the market. Now, it’s finally showing.
“There’s more construction coming of multi-family and that will continue to mean there’s more choice and more new units, which means the older units are open and less expensive,” Webber said.
Santa Fe Association of Realtors President Beth Caldarello says some of her clients have had to lower their rent. “Yeah, rental prices have gone down,” Caldarello said. “I have clients that have rentals that have called and said, ‘Yeah, we need renters.’ So we are seeing it slowing down very much.”
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New apartments such as Arcadia, Presidium Casa Siena, and South Meadows are also offering incentives to get people in, such as free one or two months’ rent. “Those people who are not getting renters are having to lower their prices,” Caldarello said. “Big corporations that own apartment complexes, I’ve heard, are doing things like two months free rent. So yeah, it’s a buyer’s market, or a renter’s market.”
Mayor Webber believes the downward trend will continue. “We have some major projects under development or permitting,” Webber said. “Those will continue to add units, so the pressure in the market will be in favor of the renter, not the landlord.”
There are 2,500 units currently under construction in Santa Fe, with 4,000 more in the pipeline. The city believes that the rent decrease to continue to drop.
