How are New Mexicans faring in the slow national economy? (Farmington: for sale, real estate)

[jecc]

I admit to living a sheltered life here in rural NM. My house is paid for, my part-time consulting work comes to me from out of state via computer, and I've always hiked or biked on most of my errands. I eat mostly fresh veggies, so milk and meat prices are irrelevant. Produce prices are up too, but I could not tell you by how much because I don't even look when I buy.

So I'm wondering how the rest of NM is doing. I don't mean official stats I can look up online. I'm more interested in personal anecdotes, what you all are experiencing firsthand or seeing around you.

Are New Mexicans feeling the crunch any more or any less than other places? Are there home foreclosures on every block in your town? Do you know many people out of work? Are you or people you know making lifestyle changes to deal with high gas prices? Is it any harder or easier to get by in NM during a nationwide slowdown?

I'm not a reporter, just a curious individual. I live in a small resort town, and the main thing I've noticed is that houses for sale are staying on the market forever now. Most are vacation homes, so it figures that this luxury market would be slow. It's a little early to tell what this summer's tourist season is looking like, but I do seem to notice fewer summer residents here this year.

Other than that, from my limited view, it appears to be mostly business as usual. Gas is over $4, yet I still see empty vehicles idling outside the PO and the grocery store as people dash in to get what they need. From my perspective it's "Huh? What recession?"

Any other stories out there?

[songinthewind7]

I've just moved to NM from Texas and the gas prices are higher here. We know we need gas so I don't look at the prices; I just put it in the car and truck and go.
If we want to go somewhere, we go.
Our neighbors across the road travel every weekend so it hasn't affected them.
Not much ATV riding going on around here either. Not sure if it's because of the price of gas or the fire danger. Maybe a little of both.

[sjbasin]

Farmington is doing pretty well, although there are signs that the residential real estate boom is over. Prices haven't dropped, but they aren't rising either. Houses at the upper end ($350k+) are sitting on the market longer. There are never enough in the $125k range. I do see that the foreclosures have moved from the land-home packages that the mobile home folks were peddling to site-built homes. That's a definite change here.

Everyone who wants to work is working it seems, and if you're trying to hire someone you'll soon figure out the ones who aren't working are unemployed for a reason.

We're blessed with sitting in the midst of one of the largest gas fields in the US, with a decent amount of oil thrown in. Life is pretty good. If the price of oil and natural gas drops, Katie bar the door.

[lisdol]

Here in the E. Mtns, there are a lot more houses on the market than there were 2 years ago when we were looking. And they stay on the market longer it seems too.

My husband has to drive 60 miles a day to get to work and back so gas is a noticeable budget item that is going up. His way of coping is to start talking to me again about buying a motorcycle (which he has wanted for a long time but will cut his commute costs in half as well).

We have not been hurt by the status of our economy, though it is a bit distressing that the price index increase is higher than the amount we are making on our savings account and I have to work on that as its like throwing money away. Our lifestyle has changed. No more - Hey, lets go to ABQ to look around Home Depot, Best Buy, etc.... Every trip is planned and errands are consolidated.

[Prinny]

I don't like in NM, but while I was there last month, we were only there for a weekend. We ended up at Wal Mart cause it got suddenly very cold and I didn't bring anything warm to wear. We ran into get sweatshirts and the store was just as packed as any other Wal Mart.

While sightseeing we stumbled onto a beautiful Casino outside of Albq. Sandia Resort I believe. Was just as crowded as any resort in Vegas and we were in awe as we never noticed the place in prior visits. We went to the front desk to inquire about the place and they were booked solid.

The place was very busy and while easting at Applebees we chatted w/ a 19 generation waitress. She gave us the scoop on her background and anyway, the place was packed on a Saturday night and it seemed as though the economy was fine there. I'm sure prices are poing up and homes sale are slow like most places, yet people still are spending money.